Guardian of Trampoli
by Munchiesaurus
Summary: Title might change. Based on Rune Factory Frontier. I have no idea what pairing I will use. It might change in the story. Original main character. Rated T to be safe. Review Please. Chapter 8 is Up.
1. Trampoli?

**Author's Note: **Okay, not sure that I have all of my ideas together right now, but I've got the first chapter together, I know. To go ahead and clear some things up that might not be made clear, I have some notes here that you need to read before you read my fanfiction.

I have played _Rune Factory Frontier _and I have not beat it, yet. I don't know everything that happens and this story might come to a standstill when I get to the Snow Ruins boss part in the story. It's not going to be based 100% off of the game, though my original character will go to dungeons and fight and befriend monsters and everything. I might add Gelwein and the Whale Island rune thing into it, I don't know.

I use my own original character in this story, and he is my character, but apart from that, none of these characters are mine, and I hope I do an okay job on their personalities. Oh, the monsters aren't my creations, but the monsters that the main character tames will have personalities, and these are my own as well.

I have not played the first _Rune Factory_ or hardly any of the second one, so yeah, I only know a lot about _Rune Factory Frontier._

I own nothing of the ideas and characters _Rune Factory _series. This is a fanfiction. And that was a disclaimer. Remember it throughout the story.

**Chapter One: Trampoli?**

Falling... Falling...! **FALLING! **I opened my eyes to see the ground coming in closer, and closer, at a rapid speed. I could feel the wind rushing through my hair and clothing. What the hell had happened? Why was I falling, and where was I falling to? I could not remember a thing about what was going on before I opened my eyes. I didn't have time to think though. The ground was less than three feet away, and I put my hands out to try and break my fall, knowing that it was going to be painful. My eyes widened when my hand was surrounded by a white glow that slowed my falling, and for a second, my body levitated, wobbling, above the ground.

I held the levitation for only a second before I hit the ground, a grunt escaping my chest. I sighed deeply, and rolled over onto my back, my eyes now concentrating on the sky. I tuned into my sense of hearing for a moment, and the sound of water running, a stream or river, filled my head. I was near water, but what else was I near? With a pulsing pain in my shoulders and back, I sat up, and scanned my surroundings. There was an old house with a hole in the roof and one broken window and on either side of that house, there was a path. The one on the left seemed to lead to some other houses, that looked a lot better than the one that I was in front of, and the path on the right led to what appeared to be a clock tower, a church, and maybe a building behind that.

There were paths on either side of me as well, and I could see a house on each side. I could also see that I was in a field, a messy field that was covered in stumps and tree limbs, as well as rocks and grasses of different colors. I definitely did not recognize my surroundings...

"Maybe I should get up and go find someone to talk to," I mumbled to myself, a voice that surprised me for some odd reason.

"Oh, hey! Are – Are you okay?" I heard a high pitched, female's voice now, and looked in the direction to see a petite girl in reddish clothing running over the bridge towards me. She had a huge bag that appeared to be a mail bag.

The girl ran up to me and knelt, a worried expression in her turquoise colored eyes. I couldn't help but stare, probably a dumbfounded look, because I wasn't sure what to say. Was I okay?

The girl's face turned bright pink at my staring, and she fumbled with one of her golden braids. "I- I think we need to get you to Lara... Can you w-walk?" she stammered. Her voice was cute, but something in the back of my head made me feel guilty for embarrassing her.

"Uhm... In all honesty, I have no idea," I spoke cautiously, not wanting to sound too odd.

The girl stood up, and extended her hand to me. "I'm not sure if I can pick you up, but I think I might can help," she said, uncertainty filling her voice.

I took her hand in one of my gloved hands, and with a bit of her help, pulled myself to my feet. I was taller than the girl by at least five inches, and she seemed to take notice of the fact that she had to look up at me to speak to me now.

Her eyes widened, and her face was once again a bright pink color. "Y-you're tall..." she mumbled.

I thought of teasing her, because in all actuality I knew she was simply short, but I didn't have time to. A snickering came from over the bridge that the girl had crossed, and I saw three short, lime green, goblins with little swords in their hands. They had smirks on their faces and they were headed for us.

The girl screamed and backed behind me. "No! They followed me! Do you think you can run?" she spoke in a frantic voice.

"Uh..." It was too late to run and I knew it. One of the goblins swung his blade at me, and by pure instinct, I held out my hand, which was now glowing red. Before the goblin could hit us, a ball of fire shot from my hand, causing pain to pulse throughout my entire body.

The goblin was blew back into the other two, and with a groan, the one I hit vanished into a white-yellow orb and was gone. The other two goblins looked at me, a terrified expression on their faces, and took off in the direction that they had came in.

My whole body now ached and throbbed, and with no energy left, I fell to my knees and everything faded to black, the last thing in my head was the girl's screaming, begging me to get up.

I awoke with bright white lights shining overhead, laying on a small white bed. I let out a groan when a numbing pain hit my head. I blinked, trying to recall what had happened when I remembered the fall, and the girl that I had met, and the goblins. I had killed one of the goblins to protect myself and the girl. The goblins had followed the girl. I sighed, somewhat relieved that I could remember something. I had the ability to remember things.

"Hm? Are you awake?" the girl, the one I had met earlier, now stood over me, mixed emotions on her face. It looked as if she might have been crying recently.

"Uhg... Yeah," I spoke in a soft voice.

"Yay!" she beamed at me. Her smile then faded, and her eyes became glazed with tears. "I was afraid that you might not wake up or something," she mumbled.

I smiled, glad that she was concerned. I then put my arms behind me and proceeded to try and push myself up into a sitting position, only to have a pink haired, brown eyed girl in sister clothing push me back down onto my back. "No, no. You must rest right now, sir... The way Anette described what happened, you must be very exhausted," she spoke in a kind, concerned voice.

"I- I feel fine right now... I just tired myself out a bit," I insisted. I wasn't a fan of infirmaries, and I was ready to leave, though I didn't know where I was going to go.

"I want to keep you here overnight to make sure that you are better... Now, I must ask you what your name is and where you came from," the nurse spoke to me in a concerned, firm, voice and it irked me, but her questions irked me worse.

"Uhhh..." Was it true that I did not remember my own name or where I had came from? "Uhm... I. Don't. Remember," I spoke in an uncertain, slow voice.

"You don't remember?" Worry now filled the nurse's voice and her expression. The girl had the same face as the nurse.

I shook my head. "The only thing I can remember is falling from the sky, looking around, and then she," I nodded towards the girl, "found me and helped me up. Then goblins attacked."

"I'm Anette, by the way."the girl mumbled, a worried expression on her face.

"So, you don't know your name, or your parents, or your birthplace, but you can use magic that hardly anyone has mastered?" Lara crossed her arms, her expression unyielding.

"I guess. The magic was only protection. I used it to break my fall as well, though it was different colors each time... It hurts to use it," I said, shrugging.

"Anette, maybe you should go get Kanno. He might know something of this," the nurse said.

"I'm on it!" Anette smiled, and ran out the door, leaving her mailbag on the floor.

"My name is Lara, by the way. You're in the town of Trampoli," the nurse said. As she spoke, her eyes stayed fixed on the door.

"Okay... Trampoli, huh?" I tried to think if I had heard of the town, but nothing came to mind, which angered me. I sat up, now feeling much better, and Lara frowned at me. "C'mon, if I feel sick I lay back down, I promise," I pleaded with her.

"Alright..." she sighed, concentrating on me now. "Do you even know what eye color or hair color you have, or anything?" she asked.

"Uhm," I grabbed a strand of my hair. It was black, with a slight shine to it. "My hair is black," I smiled. "I don't know what color my eyes are, no."

"Hmm... You're eyes are purple, dark purple," Lara said. Her worries were worsening, I could tell.

The door swung open now, and Anette walked in with three people following her; an old man in blue clothing, a woman in her teens or early twenties that was dressed in green with reddish pink hair, and a kid dressed in orange with light orange hair.

"He remembers nothing apart from his magic abilities. Could the magic have caused this?" Lara asked, her eyes now on the old man.

"Hm... Not that I know of. I've never heard of magic causing amnesia," the old man walked up to me, examining me. "What kind of magic do you know, boy?" he asked.

"Uhhh... I can levitate and I can use fire... That's all I know of right now," I responded slowly, once again.

"You can use fire... Without a weapon?" the older female spoke in a soft, shy, emotionless voice. Her eyes held an expression of wonder to them.

"Uh, yeah," I held up my hand, and concentrated on using it, but the girl stopped me.

"You must take off your glove for me to believe you," she said.

"Wait! He mustn't use his magic. He says that it hurts him," Lara glared at the girl now.

"Lara, dear, why don't you leave the room? I won't let him get that hurt, and Cinnamon, Candy, and I have it from here," the old man said.

"I will not. This man is under my care, and I will see to it that he will not get hurt," Lara spoke in a firm voice.

"Well... It's obvious that you can't help him so I say he is now under my care!" the old man suddenly exploded.

Lara simply glared at him. I felt intimidated by the two, but I said nothing.

"Lara... Please... Leave. We will take care of him," the older girl, Cinnamon or Candy, I wasn't sure, spoke.

Lara sighed heavily, and stormed out of the infirmary, out of the door that I hadn't seen opened before.

"Okay, my name is Kanno, and my older granddaughter is Cinnamon and the younger is Candy, since you are most likely wondering all of this," the old man turned to me, smiling now.

"Grandpa, would you like me to ask to spirits who this man is?" the little girl, Candy asked, smiling brightly.

"This might help. I'm sure he would like to know his own name," Kanno said.

"I would like to know his name as well," Anette spoke for the first time since she had returned with Kanno and his granddaughters.

"Okay!" Candy grinned, and began to sing. A multi-colored glow surrounded her and it amazed me.

"She's communicating with the spirits," Kanno whispered to me.

It took what seemed to be five minutes for Candy to finish communicating and she had a huge smile on her face once she was finished. "The spirits say his name is Brendan. They say that he was born in a Lava Dungeon far away from here. They say that the rest is a sad story, that they do not want to say. Being born in a dungeon is why he can use fire," Candy spoke in a quick voice.

"So... I was born around monsters... My name is Brendan," I mumbled. It didn't ring a bell but it would do. I would go with it.

"Hi, Brendan!" Anette smiled brightly.

"Now. May we see your magic?" Cinnamon asked.

"Sure." I stood up, and removed my gloves. There was a huge scar on my right hand, starting at my middle knuckle and ending in the middle of my hand. I had no idea what it was from. "Hm," I snorted at it. "Too bad I can't have stories behind the scars," I said. I noticed that there was a series of scars on my right arm that appeared to scratches.

"You also have a scar on your cheek," Candy said.

"I wonder if I fought a lot in my past life," I mumbled to myself. "Okay, back to the task on hand. Summoning fire power," I sighed, and steadied myself for the pain that was going to come. After a second, my feet lifted off of the ground, and an orange glow surrounded me. "More fire..." I mumbled. With that, the glow burst into flames that circled me like a tornado. "How's this, Cinnamon?" I turned to her.

Her face held an expression of amazement, but her voice was still flat. "Can you move it?"

"Um..." I held an arm out and made a fire ball. "I could throw this, but we're inside, so I won't," I said. The pain that I was expecting now engulfed me and the flames started to go wild. I heard Anette and Candy scream, and Kanno and Cinnamon backed away. I let out a choked scream, and the fire vanished in a poof of smoke. Still levitating, I fell to my knees and coughed. My levitation then wore off, and I fell onto my side in fetal position.

"Are you okay?" Candy asked, tilting her head.

Now ignoring the pain, I pushed myself all the way to my feet and swayed. I had to get a grip on this magic if I ever wanted to use it. It would be useless if I passed out after using it.

"Brendan!" Anette moved quickly, and had her arms around me to support me. "I gotcha," she smiled up at me, her face slightly flustered.

"Anette, I've got it, I think," I said, though I knew that she wouldn't let me go due to the shaking of my voice.

"Your magic is something that is incredible, indeed," Kanno said. "But if you really want to use it, you must practice, and build up your strength. I would like to see a monster try to take you on after you've built up your strength."

"How can I practice?" I asked. I was struggling to lean downwards to lean on Anette, so I slipped from her arms, and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Well, like you just did. When you're alone, levitate, and then add some fire to it, and try and see if maybe there is anything else that you can do," Kanno said, his eyes not focused on me, but on the ground.

"You could also try to take on the Green Ruins..." Cinnamon suggested.

"But Cinnamon, Brendan doesn't live around here. He might not be near the Green Ruins," Candy said.

It seemed to take Cinnamon a moment to consider the fact that I wasn't a citizen of Trampoli. "Then he can find dungeons in his hometown..."

"Uhm... Candy, could you possibly tell me where I'm supposed to go to consider myself at home?" I asked, feeling uneasy. Thinking about the fact that I knew nothing of myself was really starting to make me feel uncomfortable.

"The spirits also told me that you should stay in Trampoli! They said that they will need your help and without you, Trampoli will be no more..." Candy's bright eyes filled with tears.

I arched a brow. "I have nowhere to stay in Trampoli though, do I?" I asked. I wasn't sure that I liked the idea of staying in Trampoli, but the people that I had met so far seemed like nice people, and I really had nowhere else to go.

"We can go talk to Stella. Do you think that you can walk?" Anette asked.

"I can walk, but are you sure that... Uhm, people won't find it odd to have some guy with tons of scars who remembers nothing of his past life staying in what seems to be a peaceful village?" I was sure that there had to be a few villagers that would frown upon something of that sort.

"You have to stay in Trampoli! The spirits say that we'll need you!" Candy gave me a pleading look that made my heart melt.

"Uhhh... Okay then, I'll stay if Stella will let me stay," I said, in a tone that made it obvious that I had given in.

"Yay!" Anette and Candy both said at the same time, throwing their arms around me.

Anette quickly pulled back, and blushed. "Sorry. It's just, you saved me. Maybe you can help me with the monsters," she mumbled, her voice wavering.

"Maybe you and I can practice magic together sometime. It's been awhile since I have practiced magic," Cinnamon mumbled. She still sounded indifferent, but I thought I could see a faint smile on her face.

"Hohoho. I will go get Stella. Brendan, you sit here with these three," Kanno smiled, exiting the room.

My eyes fell to the floor. "Candy, you can't tell me anything else of my past? I feel so lost... No memories is kind of, not fun," I grimaced at my lack of good vocabulary.

Candy shook her head. "No, I can't. The spirits said that you have had a bad life. You need new memories. Happy memories," Candy smiled.

"What kind of rough life? Can you at least tell me what I was doing and why I was falling from the sky?" I asked, desperation now filling my voice.

"You were in a dungeon far from here. You wished that everything would just come to an end. That nothing was right and you hated it. The spirits, and your magic, saved you! Trampoli needed you so they sent you to Trampoli," Candy explained.

I racked my brain, trying to remember saying something like that. Trying to remember being in a dungeon, but nothing at all came to mind. Only falling. That's the first memory I had in my brain. "I guess falling is going to be the first memory of my life," I shook my head.

"Don't worry. The people of Trampoli will all be here to help you make new memories!" Anette smiled brightly. "I'll start by being as cheerful as I can when I pass by wherever you stay. I deliver mail here in Trampoli, by the way."

"I'll try to find out some of the brighter things of your past that you don't remember, and when I get the chance, I'll teach about runeys, runes, and rune wonders," Candy smiled.

"I can teach you of the constellations once you get settled in town... I'll also give you a fishing pole as well," Cinnamon said.

I couldn't help but to let a smile come across my face. "Thank you all so much... I promise, whatever I am here to do, I'll do it. I'll protect Trampoli and its people at all costs."

The door opened, and a short old lady, another sister at the church probably, walked in with a smile on her face. "Hello, Brendan, I am Sister Stella, and it's a pleasure to meet you," she said.

"Uhm, hey. It's a pleasure to meet you as well," I smiled.

"So, I hear that you want to stay in Trampoli, hm?" Stella asked.

"Yes, ma'am," I nodded, my face heating up again.

"Well, that is splendid. Lara told me where you fell at, and I suspect that you saw the old house and barn, correct?" Stella said, and I nodded. "Well, you can go talk to Kross, and he and you can fix the two buildings up a bit. There's a bed and some other furniture there that is in pretty good condition, and I will talk to Turner and Rita, and you can stay at the inn until the place is fixed up. There is a field, and if you want, we'll get you some tools and you can try your hand at farming, and sell your products to Rosetta, the general store manager," Stella said.

"Sure. That sounds great!" I stood up, a smile on my face now.

"I will also be here to make sure that you don't over do yourself, and to help you if you get injured," Lara, who had apparently stepped in the room while Stella was talking, spoke in a kind voice now.

"Uhm, could someone please show me where Kross is so that I could go and talk to him?" I asked, tilting my head.

"I can! I'm the mailman here, so I know where everyone is," Anette smiled brightly at me, and I nodded.

"I think I'm heading back to the clocktower," Kanno turned. "Brendan, we, meaning my granddaughters and I, live in the clocktower, so come by if you ever want to speak, though we might not be in if it's a good day outside," Kanno waved, and then headed out the door.

"See you around..." Cinnamon waved.

"See ya! Nice meeting you, Brendan," Candy waved, and the two were gone.

"Stella and I reside here in the church. Our rooms are right across the hall, and the church is through the door at the end of the hall," Lara said.

"I don't live in Trampoli. But if I see you around, I'll be sure to speak to you when I'm doing my deliveries in the mornings," Anette smiled.

"Good luck here, Brendan," Stella smiled, and waved as Anette and I walked out of the infirmary.

"Kross lives really close to where you will live, and there are plenty of other nice people in the town as well," Anette said, as she walked a bit ahead of me, down a path. "I don't have time to introduce you to everyone today, it's way past the time that I should be home, but I can tomorrow, if you want. Or if you come across the time, you can do it yourself."

We walked past the piece of land that I was to own soon to the house that I had noticed when I first landed. I also noticed two other houses. One was a huge mansion, while the other was an average sized house with a good bit of fields fenced in to the right of it.

There was a man with long, black hair standing outside of the house, and he noticed when Anette and I approached.

"Good day, Anette. Who is this?" he spoke in a quiet voice.

"Kross, this is Brendan. He's moving into the old farmland, and we need you to fix his house and barn up for him. Stella requested it," Anette said.

"Nice to meet you, Brendan. I am Kross. There should be enough old lumber left in the shed to repair the two buildings, so I'll get on it right away, and it should be done tomorrow," Kross said.

"Thank you," I said.

"No problem," Kross nodded, and without another word, headed for my land.

Anette turned to me, and frowned. "I have to get going. That gate over there leads out of Trampoli," she said.

"Okay, thanks for helping me out today," I smiled at her.

"And thank you for defending me from those monsters. Maybe they won't chase me for awhile now," she smiled.

She stood there for a minute, and an awkwardness fell over us. She surprised me when she wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug. "I hope we can be great friends," she mumbled into my chest.

I smiled. "Same here."

She pulled back, her face pink. "The inn is straight up that path, you'll notice it. I'll see you tomorrow hopefully," she said, and then took off at an incredible speed.

My eyes turned to the path, and I sighed. I then looked up at the sky, trying to determine what time it might be. It appeared to be almost sunset, but I felt so drained, that I just wanted to get the inn, meet the people there, and go to sleep.

"Uhm, good day, sir. I have not seen you around before," I heard a female voice, and turned in the direction of the mansion to see a lady in a maid's outfit approaching me.

"I'm new around here. My name is Brendan. I'll be living on the old farm property," I said, pointing in the direction of my soon to be home.

"I'm Tabatha. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr. Brendan, sir," she bowed to me.

"Please, just call me Brendan," I said, rubbing the back of my head.

Tabatha's eyes widened when I did this, and I blushed, thinking that I had done something wrong somehow.

"Mr- uh- Brendan, are you part elf, sir?" She asked, blushing fiercely.

"Uh," I realized her eyes were on my ears and I reached up and felt them. They were pointed on the ends. "I'm not sure. I can't remember my past, you see..." I began to blush, feeling extremely stupid.

"You must be part elf, if not fully elf. I didn't expect to meet another elf apart from Ganesha," Tabatha smiled.

"I guess you have. You're an elf as well?" I couldn't see her ears due to her blue hair in the way, so I couldn't tell.

"Yes, I'm fully elf. I come from a kingdom of elves," Tabatha said.

"I wonder if I do..." I mumbled.

"Would you care to meet Miss Bianca, and maybe have a light meal?" Tabatha asked.

Food. Suddenly my stomach growled loudly. "Uhm... Sorry 'bout that. Sure, I'll meet Miss Bianca," I said.

"I will prepare a quick meal for you as well, Brendan," Tabatha said, and she led me inside the mansion and to the dining room of the mansion. "Please, have a seat," she nodded towards a chair. She disappeared and while I took my seat, she came back with a young girl, probably a bit younger than me, who had twin drills and dark eyes.

"Hello. My name is Bianca de St. Coquille. I am of one of the richest families in all of Norad," she introduced herself with a voice that told me she was full of herself.

"My name is Brendan," I said, not able to think of anything better to say to her.

"Hmph. You look interesting, but I bet your boring and poor," Bianca said, turning her nose up to me.

"Brendan," Tabatha grabbed me and pulled me aside. "Please excuse Miss Bianca. She really is nice if you get to know her better. She is just, well- raised," Tabatha said. "She doesn't have many friends, and maybe you could become her friend."

"I'll try, Tabatha," I mumbled, and once again took my seat.

Tabatha began to cook, and when the questions came, I explained everything that had happened, and why I was staying in Trampoli.

"That's a very sad thing to happen, Brendan, and I do hope you recover your memory," Tabatha said, sitting a bowl of some kind of soup in front of me, along with a glass of juice of some sort.

"Thank you, and I, too hope that I can recover my memory. Maybe the fall just did something, and I'll be better in a few days," I said, after taking a bite of soup. "This is delicious, Tabatha," I complimented.

"Tabatha is an amazing cook, isn't she?" Bianca smiled. She was eating as well, and sipping what appeared to be tea.

"I do hope that you can stay in Trampoli even if you recover your memory," Tabatha said, sincerity in her voice.

"I don't care whether or not you stay. It's not like you benefit me and any way. Besides, we're only here for the Summer," Bianca said.

"It's Summer now?" I asked, feeling extremely stupid.

"Uhm, yes," Tabatha had a look of sympathy on her face, and I blushed.

"Candy said something of me being born in a dungeon, as I said, and I wonder if I'm still supposed to live in a dungeon," I paused to eat a bite of soup. "I hope there aren't any monsters depending on me somewhere..." I mumbled. I knew that monsters lived in dungeons. I hadn't lost any of my knowledge, it seemed, apart from the knowledge of who I was, and my past.

"You too have concern for monsters?" Tabatha seemed pleased.

"Yes, I do..." I nodded.

"He probably is part monster or something, being born in a dungeon and whatnot," Bianca commented, rolling her eyes.

"Miss Bianca, he is part elf, or full elf, I am not sure," Tabatha frowned.

"Oh..." Bianca said nothing more.

After what seemed to be less than an hour, I left the villa to discover that it was now night. "Wow. I must have stayed longer than what I thought," I mumbled to myself. I felt re-energized, so I burst into a run to the inn. When I was at the door, I thought about knocking, but then remembered that it was an inn, and they probably wouldn't expect someone to knock.

I entered to be greeted by a girl with light green hair and light purple eyes, dressed in a pink and white dress. She was chubby, but cute, and probably around my age as well. "Good evening. May I help you?" she walked over to me, a smile on her face.

"Uhm... I would like a room, I guess," I didn't exactly know how to approach this situation.

"Oh, so you're not new to Trampoli? You're only staying overnight?" the girl asked.

"Actually, I am new to Trampoli. Kross is working on my house right now, so I was told that I should stay at the inn overnight," I said. "My name's Brendan."

"I'm Eunice. My parents actually run the inn, but they're working the bar right now, so I'll get you a room ready," she smiled, and waddled her way over to the counter. She wrote something down in a small book, and then came back with a room key. "It's the yam room. It'll be on the door. And that will be 100 gold," she said.

My eyes widened, and my hand went to my pocket. I found a small sack and pulled it out. I opened it to find somewhere around 5000 gold and sighed in relief. I handed Eunice the money. "Thank you," I said.

"No, thank you," Eunice smiled brightly. "Would you like to go meet my parents?" she asked.

"Sure," I shrugged.

She led me through a door to a room that smelled of food and alcohol. I was greeted by a fat man in orange clothing.

"GOOD EVENING!" he slurred at me, slinging his arm around me.

"Dad..." Eunice sighed.

"Dear, what have I told you about harassing the customers?" a blonde woman walked up, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Rita... Dear, I'm only being a good host..." the man slurred, leaning on me.

I wobbled, and frowned.

The woman grabbed the man and slung him into a chair. "Sit down or you'll be getting 100 slaps from me!" she bellowed. She then turned to me. "I'm sorry... That's my husband, Turner. He's a drunken bastard right now. I'm Rita, and I'm assuming you've met my daughter, Eunice?" she smiled at me.

"Yes, I have. My name is Brendan, I will be staying here overnight if that is alright. I have paid," I said. I was still shaken from the drunk guy, and slightly confused.

"I heard about you coming. Kanno told me you got no memory," Rita placed a hand on her hip.

"No.. I don't..." I mumbled.

"Well, feel free to stay as long as you want. I'm not gonna let you drink though," she said, and with that, she turned and headed for the counter.

"I'll show you your room now," Eunice said. "I'm so sorry for my dad," she blushed.

"It's fine," I smiled.

She led me to a room with "Yam Room" carved into the door. She said "goodnight" and left me to stare at the door.

I unlocked the room, went in, and with little notice to what I was doing, shut the door, removed my shirt, gloves, and boots, laid down on the bed, and fell into a deep, black sleep.


	2. Failing

**Author's Note: **Okay, chapter two will not be as long. I will apologize deeply for the length of chapter one. ^_^; I hate introductions and stuff, so I tend to try and rush passed them otherwise I will lose interest in writing. I will lay off of the rushing, as I planned to in this chapter, and he probably won't meet everyone in this chapter. Due to a suggestion, Brendan will not be paired with Anette, and due to the same reason in the suggestion, he will also not be paired with the Irises. Serious romance(As in confessions and stuff) also might not happen for a few chapters. Please continue to review, and I promise I won't make a chapter that long again. ^_^; Or rush through things.

**Chapter Two: Failing**

The sun awoke me in the morning, and my thoughts automatically started racing. _Where was I? What had happened? _My eyes widened, and I sat up, and examined my surroundings, and everything, well, the past day, came back to me. I was in Trampoli, and I had been asked to stay here. I was supposed to take over a farm land, but I was in the Sunshine Inn, waiting for Kross, a carpenter, to fix my house and monster barn.

I swung my feet over the bed, and my eyes fell to the clothing that was on the floor. It was caked with dirt and what was most likely blood. How long had I been walking around like this? I let out a sigh that made my head pulse and rolled my eyes. When I did this, I caught a glance of myself in the mirror of the vanity that was in the room. In general, I didn't look much better than the clothing on the floor.

My hair, black, was covered in dust, and had a bad case of bedhead. My eyes were dark purple, as Lara had said, but they were tinted red, and faded circles were under them. I had muscles on my torso, but my attention was drawn to the scars and cuts that decorated my entire body. Some were deep and wide, while others had almost faded. There were a few wounds on my upper right arm that had dark, dried blood caked around them, there was also a cut on the right side of my torso that looked the same.

I wrinkled my nose at my appearance. "I've got to ask them about bathing..." I mumbled to myself, making a note inside my head.

I plopped back down on the bed and began to redress, when I heard a knock on the door. I froze, debating on whether or not the door was unlocked. I couldn't remember locking it back, so I said, "I think it is unlocked."

The door opened slowly, and Eunice walked in.

"Hello..." She spoke in a soft voice, averting her eyes as she noticed that I hadn't put my shirt on, yet. I thought I noticed a pink tint to her cheeks, but I wasn't sure.

I slipped my shirt on, and stuffed my gloves into my pocket. "So, what's up?"

"Uhm... I was just checking to see if everything was okay. Kross came by earlier and said he was finished with your land, and Anette came to see you, but neither I nor Mom could wake you up," she looked at me for a moment, worry in her eyes. "_Are_ you okay?"

"I'm fine... What time is it?" I asked.

"It's almost noon. You've been asleep for a long time. We all thought that you were sick or something," Eunice now sounded worried as well.

"No... I feel fine, I'm positive. I guess, I just overslept. Tiring day, yesterday," I said, in an assuring voice.

"Okay. That's good. I'm glad that you are okay," Eunice smiled brightly now.

"Eunice, I have to ask this. Uhm, what means of bathing does the inn have?" I felt embarrassed for asking, but it was needed.

"Oh... Everyone here uses Melody's bathhouse, the Laga Springs. It's just a small walk east from here," Eunice explained.

"Okay, thank you," I stood up now, and stretched.

"Also, you need to go to your farmland today. The bathhouse does not open until three," Eunice explained.

"Okay, I'll do that," I nodded.

"You'll be checking out now, correct?" Eunice asked. "Would you like to eat something first?"

I thought about eating. I wasn't hungry yet, and I had a lot of stuff to do. "Nah, thanks for the offer, though," I smiled.

I followed Eunice downstairs, returned my key, and as I was about to push open the door to leave, I heard Rita's voice.

"Here, take these," Rita handed me a stack of clothing and an old looking book when I turned around at the sound of her voice.

"Uhm, thanks," I said, having no idea how to respond.

"If you want more boots and gloves, and things of that nature, you can talk to Rosetta and have them ordered, or you can buy some books from the library and learn how to make them yourself. The book I've given you is a beginner's cook book. It might come in handy when you get hungry."

"Okay, thank you, Rita," I smiled, and after telling everyone that I would see them around, I left.

My house looked better than it did yesterday when I had landed in front of it, but it still was nothing to look at. It had all of its windows now, and no holes in the roof, but it was obvious where the repairs had been made.

I was proud of it all the same. I had somewhere to live now, and it was now pretty much confirmed that I would be living in Trampoli. I entered the house to see that it didn't have too much furniture in it at all. There was a small bed, a table with one chair, a storage chest, a bookshelf, and three small stations; a kitchen, a forging area, and what looked like a lab. It didn't look like too much could be done in any of them.

There was also a calender on the wall, and a note on the storage box. I walked over to the box, and read the note.

_The villagers have been kind enough to leave you some tools that you can use._

_~Kross_

I smiled at the kindness of the people of Trampoli and opened the box. Inside was a hoe, a watering can, a sickle, an ax, a hammer, a fishing rod, a brush of some sort, a small sword, and something that I wasn't so sure what it was. Every item had a note on it.

The hoe and watering can were from someone named Mist, the sickle was from someone named Eric, the ax was from Stella, the fishing rod was from Cinnamon, the brush was from Kross, the sword was from someone named Ganesha, and the hammer was from Melody.

The thing that confused me was apparently a harvester, given to me by Candy. It was used to distribute something called "Runeys" and it was used to get products, like milk and eggs, from monsters that I had tamed.

The brush was for taming monsters, the note said.

"Huh..." Under everything in the chest, there was a bag of turnip seeds. "So I guess I'm expected to plant these... In Spring," I frowned at the fact that the bag was green, and had the word "Spring" written on it.

All of the tools seemed slightly worn, but they would do, and I was also proud of them, though I felt bad that villagers that I didn't even know were giving me items.

I sat on the edge of the bed, and pondered what I had to do now. _Bathhouse. _By time I walked there, it would be time for the bathhouse to open.

I hopped up, left the house, and began my walk to the bathhouse.

"Welcome!" I was greeted by a cute girl who had dark eyes, light pink hair, and who wore a red wizard suit. "You're the new farmer in Trampoli, aren't you?"

"Uhm, yeah, I guess I am," I said. I really didn't think of myself as a farmer, but in all truth, I lived on farmland, which did make me a farmer.

"My name is Melody! Are you here to enjoy a relaxing bath today? It will be ten gold," she had a cheery attitude, that made me smile, but she reminded me of a little kid, even though she was probably around my age, since she was running a bathhouse.

"I'm Brendan, and yes, I would like a bath," I smiled. I gave her ten gold, and with my clothing(which consisted of a white long sleeved shirt and dark jeans) tucked under my arm, and I went in the direction that she pointed me to the men's bath.

After leaving the bathhouse, something kind of odd caught my eye. There was a giant beanstalk leading up to what looked to be a whale-shaped rock in the sky. "Wow..." I breathed. I could climb the beanstalk, I knew it.

"I'm gonna do it," I narrowed my eyes. I had carried my tools with me, and I was now thankful for this. I might need the sword since I didn't know what was on the rock.

I headed for the beanstalk, taking note of the clock tower where Cinnamon, Candy, and Kanno lived, and noting that there was a building that I needed to visit later.

The climb wasn't a short one, but it didn't take nearly as long as what I thought it would, and that baffled me, though I didn't dwell on it.

I set foot on the grass, and I nearly fell off of the rock when a voice spoke to me.

"Hello, visitor... I am the Whale Spirit of Whale Island, may I ask your name?" the voice spoke.

I took out my sword, and steadied myself. "M-My name's Brendan. Wh-Where are you?" I stammered.

"I am a spirit. You cannot see me... Have you finally came to help me?"

"Uhh..." I was now confused. Helping something I couldn't see? How could I do that?

"There is a rune on my back that keeps me afloat in the skies of Trampoli. Lately, that rune has been growing weak... I need help to revive that rune or I will fall, and tragedy will strike."

"How do I revive the rune?..." I asked, my voice far from steady. I wasn't even sure what a rune was, though something told me that I had heard of them.

"I am not sure. Something is taking its magic away. There is a soul that lives here, but she does not know what it is, either... You must find what it is Brendan, before it is too late..."

"I will try, Whale spirit. Do you have any idea where I should start?"

"No. You're a pure spirit, you're here to help. It will come to you in time..." The voice faded away, and I knew that the Whale spirit was gone.

"Dammit..." I mumbled to myself. I was already tired of hearing that I had came to help Trampoli, and all of that, and no one telling me where the hell I was supposed to start.

I let out a tired sigh, and locked my eyes on the cave that wasn't that far away. That could be a place to start.

I ran for the cave, and as soon as I entered two goblins that were the same as the ones I had killed yesterday ran at me. I also noticed a portal of some kind, but I didn't have time to think about it because one of the goblins hit me with the small knife he had. Pain shot through my side and I growled at the green monster. I swung my sword, hitting both of the goblins.

They were knocked back by the hit, but they didn't die. They both lunged at me, one tackling me and knocking me down, and the other slicing my arm with his knife, barely making a cut.

My sword was now out of my hand and out of reach, and I was still pinned by the green goblin. Magic was now my only answer. My body heated up, and fire burst from me, and the goblins were finished. I rolled, grabbed my sword, and was back on my feet.

The portal glowed now, and two more goblins appeared.

"DAMMIT!" I snapped. I was running out of energy fast. I had to destroy the portal before I destroyed the goblins. Dodging the swings of the goblin's knives, I ran for the portal and slashed at it repeatedly with my sword until it shrunk and was gone. I then turned around just in time to stab a goblin that was jumping at me. He disappeared, and then I hit the other goblin twice before he disappeared.

I crossed my arms over my chest, proud that I had managed to kill the goblins just that fast. I felt weakish, still, but I was satisfied.

I was about to turn around and continue my trek through the cave when a sharp, burning pain shot through my back. I turned before falling to my knees to see an orc with a bow and arrow.

It had a smirk on its face, and it ran towards me now, and shot another arrow, which hit me in the side.

I let out a cry of pain, and winced as I pulled myself to my feet, only to have my knees collapse under me. I was finished. I was supposed to save Trampoli, but only this fast had something managed to defeat me.

"Nyahhh!" I heard a battle cry of a goblin, and I saw one of the green things running towards the orc. He stabbed the orc repeatedly before the orc took off running in the other direction, letting out distorted cries of pain.

"Thanks..." I mumbled, though I knew now the little thing was going to finish me off.

It ran towards me, but before it could get to me, the orc archer was back, and it fired two arrows.

The first arrow hit me in the side that wasn't injured yet, and the second arrow landed right beside the goblin.

"Nyahhhh! Nyah!" The goblin charged at the archer but I couldn't see the fight as my vision blurred and my head began to spin.

"Oh, damn... I don't want to be in this cave anymore, and I definitely don't want to die..." I mumbled, wishing that I was back home in my bed. "Don't. Want. To. Die..." Those were my last words before everything dimmed, and went black. The last thing I saw was the goblin running towards me.

**Author's Note: **I believe this chapter was a bit better, though I think it might be too short. I hope it was better though. Also, if I get the name's of any people, places, or monsters wrong, please tell me, I won't mind. Also, I know that Orc Archer's aren't at the beginning of the Whale Island Cave, but I was making it like one ventured that way or something. The dungeon monster layout will not be exactly the same in any of the dungeons. The next chapter might be a bit longer if needed, please tell me if it is needed.


	3. New Friend and a Day At the Beach

**Chapter Three: New Friend and a Day at the Beach**

I awoke on my bed, and my head pulsed for a few seconds. The thought that I wasn't dead was the first to enter my head. I had been attacked, but somehow, I managed to survive it, and end up back at my house without remembering leaving Whale Island. I rolled over to face the rest of the house and let out a cry of surprise.

A goblin was sitting at the kitchen table, munching on a fish, a mess of blood on the kitchen table. "Nyeh?" He noticed when I opened my eyes, and grabbed another fish off of the table and walked over to me. "Nyeh?" he offered the fish to me.

I stayed pressed against the wall for a second, staring at the goblin, holding what appeared to be a chub. "Why are you in my house?" I exhaled as I spoke.

"Nyeh, nyeh, nyeh!" the goblin sat the fish on my bed and made motions of an archer, of someone falling, and a stabbing motion with his knife.

I stared, wide eyed. Was he the goblin that fought the archer yesterday?

"Nyehr..." the goblin then disappeared, with what appeared to be magic, and then reappeared, standing on my bed. He then pretended to pass out. "Nyeh-Nyeh..." He opened his eyes, and nodded proudly at his explanation.

"Uh... So magic got me back to this house or something?" I asked. It was difficult to understand the creature. Not to mention, I was still terrified that there was a monster in my house.

The goblin nodded, and then sat up. He grabbed the fish, and held it out to me. He made a motion of eating it, and then pointed to me.

"I... Don't eat raw fish, but I guess I could cook it," I took the fish, and then stood up, heading for the kitchen. The fish didn't smell as if it had been dead too long, so I figured it would be safe to eat.

The goblin walked back over to the table, and proceeded to finish his meal.

I grabbed the frying pan that was on the stove, and fixed the fish up before frying it. The only utensils in my kitchen were a cutting board, a frying pan, and a blender. I would have to ask someone where I could get some more utensils, and a fridge.

I prepared the fish, and since the goblin had the only chair occupied, I sat down on the bed, and ate. My eyes trailed to the window; The sun was just now coming up, so the day was just beginning. It was good to know that I hadn't slept the entire day. I needed to go see Rosetta today about some more clothes, and I guess today was a good day to go and finish meeting all of the villagers. I wondered what day it was, and what the date was. I only knew that it was Summer.

"Hey, goblin, are you planning to stay here or something?" I asked, as my mind trailed back to the goblin, who seemed to be making no effort to leave. I knew that monsters were supposed to stay in the barn, but the little guy seemed rather comfortable in my home.

The goblin looked at me as he tossed the fish's head into his mouth. He nodded, and then gave me a pleading look, as if to say, _Please let me._

"You know that you're supposed to stay in the barn, don't you?" I arched a brow at him.

"Nyeh!" he shook his head, and frowned at me.

"Or, you can just stay in the house. I guess that will work, but I've got stuff to do today, so you'll be here alone," I said. _Then again, he would be alone if he was in the barn as well, wouldn't he? _I asked myself.

I stood up, setting the plate down on the table. I needed to clean the blood off of the table, but I figured that it would be best just to wait until I got back to do that, since the goblin would probably make a mess while I was gone.

As I opened the door to leave, the goblin hopped off of the table, and stood behind me, knife in hand. "Nyee-hee!" he hopped up and down.

"So... You're coming with me?" I asked in a flat voice. I wasn't going to even bother trying to convince the goblin otherwise, because he would just protest anything I tried to make him do.

The goblin nodded, and I let out a sigh.

"Hello," I was greeted by a cute girl, with pale blonde hair and light blue eyes when I exited my house. My first thought was that the girl would probably be frightened by the goblin.

"Uhm, hi?" I gave her a questioning look, trying to step in front of the goblin to hide him. He would just step to the side, eying the girl curiously.

"My name is Mist. I am your next door neighbor. I stopped by here multiple times yesterday to meet you, but you weren't here," she made a pouty face for a moment, but it quickly turned back to a smile.

"My name is Brendan, and I'm sorry, but I was at Whale Island yesterday," I introduced myself.

"Oh... Who is your friend?" Mist's eyes dropped to the goblin.

"He's a goblin. He followed me home, so I guess he's my goblin now," I said, patting the goblin's head.

In return, he glared at me.

"I know that he is a goblin. A rather cute goblin at that, but when you tame a monster, you must name them," Mist explained. "So, what is his name?"

"Uhhh..." I hadn't thought about naming monsters. In fact, I hadn't put much thought into taming monsters or anything. I wanted to get my strength up beforehand. "His name is... Hero, because, he saved my life in the dungeon yesterday!"

"Nyeh!" Hero crossed his arms in a gloating manner.

"Oh, Hero? Hi, Hero!" Mist waved at the goblin. She then turned her attention back to me. "Are you going to the beach today? A lot of people have decided that this would be a good day to go to the beach."

"Actually, I needed to go talk to Rosetta about ordering some more boots..." I said, my eyes falling to the ground.

"Today is Holiday. Rosetta doesn't work today," Mist frowned at me. "Brendan, has anyone told you the date?"

I shook my head, too embarrassed to speak.

"Well, it's Summer day seven, which is a Holiday, and no one apart from sometimes Melody, works on Holiday. It's a fun day for everyone," she smiled at me. "So, come to the beach with everyone?" she added.

"Okay, but I don't have a swimsuit or anything," I said.

"Oh, I was supposed to give you these," she took out a pair of black swim-trunks, and handed them to me. "Stella ordered them, knowing that you would want to participate in beach festivals, and she told me to give them to you."

"Uh, tell Stella that I said 'Thank you' when you see her again?" I spoke in an inquisitive tone.

"Okay," Mist nodded. "Let's go," she pointed to the road that led to the single house.

Mist seemed like a pretty talkative girl, and we talked as we walked. Hero had stayed at home, instead, apparently not liking the idea of the beach too much. Mist wanted to pursue him to go, but I had suggested that that wouldn't work.

"Did you see that pack of turnip seeds in your storage chest?" Mist asked.

"Uh, yeah. Did you put them there?" I smiled at her.

"Uh, I dunno. But when Spring comes, you should grow lots of turnips... Maybe you could even give your next door neighbor a few," She blushed brightly.

"You like turnips, huh?" I arched a brow at her.

"Every villager has something that they like. I like turnips and Emery Flowers the best."

"Emery flowers?"

"Yes, they take a whole year to grow, and they must be grown in a dungeon, since they can only be grown in Spring."

"Wow..."

We were now at the beach, and I noticed that a lot of the females from town were there, already dressed.

"Have you met everyone here?" Mist asked.

"Uhh..." My eyes scanned the area. I saw a girl with long blonde hair that was dressed in a yellow swimsuit, a girl with pale blonde hair in a blue swimsuit, and a girl with short black hair in a black swimsuit that I didn't recognize. "No."

"Okay, well, get changed and go introduce yourself!" Mist smiled brightly.

I walked over to the changing room, and not thinking about whether or not I needed to knock, opened the door.

Tabatha's shrill scream alarmed me, and I stepped back and turned my head, letting my hair fall into my eyes. Embarrassing.

"I-It's alright, Brendan, I was done changing... You just... Surprised me. Forgive me for screaming," Tabatha stammered.

I looked up to notice the woman in a blue swimsuit, with an orange flower in her hair. Her elf ears showed now, and she looked... Amazing.

My face burned with embarrassment, and I shook my head. "No... I apologize, I really need to learn to knock. I'm sorry."

"We need a lock on the changing room door," Tabatha frowned now, her face finally fading back to its normal tanned color. She walked past me, and I slipped into the changing room.

The room consisted of a bench and a mirror. There were clothes lining the walls in piles, and hats hung on hooks. I changed quickly, and then noticed myself in the mirror. I still had scars, and I had two circular wounds in my side that were almost healed. I thought about putting my shirt back on, but figured that it would look extremely tacky if I did so. Leaving my clothes in a pile beside what appeared to be Tabatha's dress, I exited the changing room, Mist slipping past me as I did so.

"Hey, you're the new guy, right?" The girl with pale blonde hair wearing a blue swimsuit walked up to me.

"Uhm, yeah. My name's Brendan," I said. The sun made my scars glisten, and I was afraid she would say something.

"I'm Rosetta, and I run Materia. You can come to me if you need to buy anything, or order something. The prices are always fair," she spoke as if she was advertising her shop, which she pretty much was when you thought about it.

"Nice to meet you Rosetta," I nodded.

Her red-violet eyes fell to my torso, but her eyes quickly returned to my face. "Materia is opened from nine in the morning, to six in the evening. Stop by at those hours," she said, before walking off to the water.

My eyes went to the petite black haired girl, and then to the woman with long blonde hair. I was debating on which to introduce myself to first. I also noticed the fairy-thing that was floating above the black-haired girl's head.

"Graaah! How dare you eye milady in such manner!" The fairy-thing suddenly yelled, making me realize that he was facing me.

My face lit up, my eyes were wide. "I wasn't eying her in a bad manner. I- I wanted to introduce myself to her..." I studdered.

"Tsubute..." The girl sighed, and walked up to me, the fairy-thing following. "My name is Uzuki. I am of a land far east of here," she introduced herself.

"Uhhh... My name is Brendan," I was afraid to look at the girl, or the fairy-dude, so I kept my eyes on the ground.

"The annoying little monster is my guardian, Tsubute. Please excuse his outbursts," Uzuki sounded annoyed.

"Milady, I am only looking out for your safety. I do not want any lowlife man to have impure thoughts of you," Tsubute said.

"Tsubute, Brendan is not going to hurt me, and he does not have impure thoughts of me. Why will you not let me make any friends without scaring them away?"

"Graah!"

"Tsubute..." Uzuki's voice turned to a warning tone, and Tsubute fell silent.

"Brendan, I deeply apologize," Uzuki spoke in a sweet, apologetic tone now.

"I-it's alright," I looked up at her finally. She was cute, but she looked to be a few years younger than me.

"That is good. I am staying at the inn, and I am pleased to make your acquaintance," she bowed her head, and then headed back to the very edge of the water. I thought I saw a slightly panicked look on her face, but I wasn't sure.

Finally, it was time to introduce myself to the girl with long hair. I walked over to her, but I noticed that she had a book in her hand, and she wasn't concentrating a bit on me.

"Uhm, hello?" I spoke in a slow tone, not sure if she would get mad if I surprised her.

She jumped, startled, and closed the book. "Uhm, hi!" she smiled at me, her face flustered.

"My name is Brendan. I just moved to Trampoli. You're the only one on the beach that I haven't met yet, so I figured I needed to introduce myself to you," I said, smiling at her.

"I'm Selphius, but you can just call me Selphy! I live at the Rune Archives, Trampoli's library. I can sell you some great recipe books if you want, because I don't like those kinds of books," she said.

"Okay, it's nice to meet you, Selphy," I smiled. I then noticed that she was already reading again, and decided that it would just be best to leave her alone. My eyes scanned the beach, and I decided that it would be best to just head to the docks and sit down.

I let out a yelp of surprise when someone dashed past me, nearly knocking me off of my feet. The person turned around, and stopped in front of me.

It was Anette. She was dressed in a swimsuit with a pink top, and green bottom. "Hiya! Are you having a good time in Trampoli, Brendan?"

"Uhm, yeah. I haven't saw you for a couple of day, have I?" I rubbed the back of my neck, slightly embarrassed that I had screamed like I had.

"Nope. I'm glad you've settled in. I'll be delivering your mail from now on," she smiled brightly.

"Okay. I'll try to greet you at the mailbox when I can," I said.

"Yay! I'll be looking forward to it," she said, beaming at me. Her beam quickly turned to a frown. "I know this is supposed to be a day at the beach for everyone, but I have to tend to some stuff back in my hometown, and I have to leave... I'll see you around!"

"Uhm, later, Anette," I waved at her, as she waved. I wondered what she had to tend to, but it really wasn't my place to ask.

"Glad I got to talk to you a little while today!" She yelled over her shoulder.

As Anette entered the changing room, I sighed. I had the urge to go speak to Tabatha, but Bianca was there, and she didn't seem to care too much for me, and plus, I was still embarrassed about what had happened in the changing room.

I eventually decided to sit down beside Mist, who was sitting on the docks, letting her feet dangle into the water.

Mist and I talked of some of the villagers' likes, and some of Trampoli's history. She wanted to know more about Whale Island, and she told me of how she had spoken to spirits in her dreams. I was beginning to find that Mist was an odd girl, with an oddly bubbly personality. I wanted to know more of her history, but she didn't speak much of herself, just of Trampoli, and how Stella had lent her the house. She also told me of how she wanted to start going to the dungeons and how she wanted to make monster friends. It was an interesting conversation. I found it odd how people spoke to her in her dreams, and even odder how naive she was was about it.

"Brendan, the sun is about to set. It's time for us to leave. It was fun talking to you today. I'm glad you understand everything that I told you. I've only told you, because I knew that you would understand. You seem to have contact with the spirits as well," Mist smiled.

"Hm... The Whale is the only spirit I've had contact with," I shrugged.

"Well, I've told the people in my dreams about you, but I'm sure they will want to know more about you, so I'll tell them," she smiled.

"Okay..." I nodded.

We stood, and after all the female's were done changing, I changed. It was almost night now, and feeling slightly sunburned, I headed for my house. Today had been a good day, and now I had very few people left in town to meet. By the end of the week, I was sure that I would be settled into Trampoli.

_**Author's Note: **_Okay, that was a pretty good chapter. I've finished my _Rune Factory Frontier _file, and I don't know if this will follow the same plot at all. I hope you've enjoyed this chapter, and expect another one before the week is up. Possibly even two or three more. :) Review Please, but don't be too mean about my failtastic writing style.


	4. A Breeze of Spring

**Chapter Four: A Breeze of Spring**

I wasn't any where near used to waking up in my new house, especially with a goblin sleeping next to me, so it took me a minute to grasp my situation. After shaking off the slight feeling of disarray, I got dressed, and left the house, Hero following me.

"AHHH!" Anette let out a shrill scream when she heard me, making my back stiffen. I wasn't sure at all what she was screaming about.

"What's wrong, Anette?" I furrowed my brow, confused by the tears that were swelling in her turquoise eyes.

"I-It's a monster! Why do you have a monster following you?" She asked, panic obvious in her voice.

"Oh... This is Hero... He's my buddy," I looked down at Hero, who seemed hurt by Anette being so terrified of him. "He won't hurt you. He saved me on Whale Island."

"B-But still. You befriended it?" Anette had moved the entire time, but now, she reached into her bag, only to realize that I apparently had no mail today.

"Uhm, yeah, what's wrong with that?" I asked. I had a feeling that Anette wasn't going to speak much to me for awhile, after this. "Hero won't hurt you, or chase you, I promise."

"Nyef..." Hero dropped his knife and held out a small, green hand to Anette.

"Nuh-uh! I'm going to finish my mail route..." Anette shook her head. "Bye, Brendan."

"Nyeff!" Hero gave Anette a pleading face, that I thought was adorable.

Anette shook her head, and before I could stop her, she was gone.

"Nyehhh-heh..." Hero let out a hurt cry and covered his face.

"Hey..." I knelt next to the goblin, and put an arm around his shoulder. "I'm sorry she doesn't like you... I'm sure other people in town will..."

"Myeh?" he looked up at me, as if wanting to know if what I was saying was true.

"In fact, I know who will adore you," I stood up now, handing Hero his knife piece.

"Ny-Nyeh?" Hero seemed cheerful now, which made me smile.

I didn't know if Tabatha was angry with me or anything, but I set off for her house anyway.

Once I arrived at the St. de Coquille villa, I noticed Tabatha outside, watering the flowers that lined the Villa's walls and walkway.

"Hey, Tabatha, I want to introduce you to someone," I said, praying in the back of my head that she wouldn't bring up what had happened at the beach.

Tabatha turned, and her eyes fell on me, and then to Hero. She smiled. "Is he yours, Brendan?" She placed the watering can that she had on the ground, and walked down the hill to meet me.

"Yeah... He saved my life on Whale Island and now he stays in my house. His name is Hero," I said, smiling at Tabatha's positive reaction.

"Nyer!" Hero held out his hand to Tabatha, a smile also on his face.

"Hello, Hero, I'm Tabatha," she knelt, taking Hero's tiny hand in her own. She petted his head. "You seem very good at taming monsters. Most monsters wouldn't let people that weren't their owners this close to them."

"I didn't use the pet glove on him. He showed up at my house after I passed out. An orc archer nearly killed me, and he fought the orc off," I explained.

"Oh... You do understand that the orc was only scared, right Brendan?"

I rubbed the back of my neck. "Uhh... I guess if I think about it, I do," I said, after giving the matter some thought. The orc only attacked me because I was in its territory, and it was a wild orc.

"Well, thank you for letting me see Hero," she stood now, bowing her head. "If possible, may I come by some time and visit your barn to see if you've tamed any other monsters?"

"Sure! And if you want, you can knock on the door to my house and if Hero isn't with me, he'll let you visit him, right, Hero?"

"Myeh!" Hero hugged Tabatha's leg, and returned to my side.

My eyes trailed upward towards the sky. It was probably about the time that Rosetta's shop opened, so I needed to get going. "Uhm, you mind if Hero and I get going? I've got some business to attend to today."

"Oh, of course not. I must get back to my chores as well, before Miss Bianca awakens," Tabatha bowed. "I hope to see you and Hero around, Brendan."

"Alright. You will, I think. Bye, Tabatha," I waved and began to walk.

"Nye-Nye!" Hero also waved.

"See, some people in town aren't afraid of you..." I patted Hero's head.

He nodded, a satisfied smile on his face.

We walked through town to Materia, greeted by Eunice and Uzuki on the way. Uzuki seemed to be someone afraid of Hero, until she realized that he was tamed, and Eunice thought he was cute, saying that he looked kind of like a little baby.

I entered Materia to be greeted by Rosetta, who had a warm smile on her face. I talked to her of ordering the clothing that I needed, and she gladly did so, leaving me with on five hundred gold. She told me about the shipping box, which made me happy, because now, when I needed money, I could fish or go find some stuff in the dungeons. And when fall came, I could also plant some crops and ship them, if I had the money for the seeds.

As soon as I walked out of Materia, I bumped into Mist.

"Ah! Sorry," I shook my head.

"It's okay. Hello, Brendan and Hero," Mist smiled. "I was looking for you, Brendan."

"Really? What's going on?" I asked, arching a brow at her.

"There are a lot of weeds in front of my house... They really need to be cut down." Mist avoided eye contact, and I knew what she wanted me to say.

"I'll cut them down for you, Mist," I sighed. That was an excellent way to spend the day. A sickle in my hand, chopping down weeds for my next-door neighbor.

"Thank you, Brendan. You're a nice person," she smiled brightly now.

I let out a sigh, and after saying bye to Mist, I headed for her house.

Hero stopped back at our house when we passed it, and so I went to the field in front of Mist's house to work alone.

It took at least a few hours for me to manage to chop down all of the weeds, because the sun had moved a great bit during the time that I was working. Mist stood and watched, watering her flowers. I didn't feel self-conscience, oddly enough. I knew Mist wasn't watching me because she was attracted to me or anything, she was watching because of something else, maybe she liked watching people work or something.

"Hello, Hero," I heard her say, right as I had finished my work and was staring at a stairway that I had found. I looked up, wiping sweat from my forehead, to see Hero running towards me.

He noticed the stairs, and pulled out his knife. "Nehee-hee!" he grinned broadly, a slightly distorted grin.

"Mist, did you know about these stairs?" I asked.

"Oh, those lead to the Green Ruins, a dungeon where it is always Spring! You could grow turnips there," Mist explained.

"Would it be safe for me to check it out?" I asked.

"I think you're strong enough to handle the monsters. If not, just use the Return spell, and you'll be back at the exit," Mist was smiling as she spoke, and I thought it was kind of cute. I figured that in a few weeks or so, Mist would be like a little sister to me.

"How do I use the Return spell?" I asked. I had a feeling that I had used it before, but I just wanted to make sure.

"Just think about the exit as much as you can, and it will eventually kick in."

"Okay, thanks," I smiled, taking out my sword.

"Go get 'em, Brendan and Hero!"

The temperature of the Green Ruins was at least a few degrees cooler than that of Trampoli right now. It felt nice, since I had been working for the past few hours.

I noticed some small fields that needed cleaning, but I ignored them. Instead, I ran up the stairs, and ran straight into a cluster of vines and leaves, blocking the doorway. Beyond there, I saw a red squirrel trying to throw acorns at me.

I slashed through the vines, and was hit by three acorns. The squirrel squeaked and ran backwards.

"Nye-hee!" Hero charged, and slashed through the squirrel, and I hit it with my blade, and it was gone.

"The portal!" I nodded towards the portal, and Hero and I attacked it before another squirrel could come out. I could remember that the squirrels were called Chitters or Furpies, but I didn't remember which was which.

One direction was blocked by a giant cluster of rocks, so I went the other way, slashing through some more vines.

This time, when I entered the room, I was attacked by huge, red, ants. They spat some kind of nasty, green, moist gas at me, and when the gas landed on my skin, a burning sensation occurred, and my skin turned a bit pink. It wasn't anything to worry about, though, and with two swings of my sword, the ant closest to me was dead.

I glanced at Hero to see that the ant he was attacking was also dead, and the portal was gone. "Great job!" I grinned, and Hero nodded proudly.

I noticed more fields, and some crates sitting on the floor. With one hit of my sword, the crates broke, and out came some yellow colored grass, and a root of some sort. Not interested in the items, I continued on, down a path, to where I had two options; I could go up some stairs, or I could break down some vines, where there were some plant-like monsters, who attempted to shoot orbs at me. The plants interested me, but I thought that it would be safer to head up the stairs.

I found myself in a large room, with a couple of squirrels and some ants in it. It wasn't that much of a fight, but once the room was clean, I noticed that Hero was panting, and he had little wounds all over his arms, and a bleeding scratch on his face.

I knelt next to him. "Are you okay, little guy?" I asked. "You can go ahead and head home if you want to, ya know..."

Hero shook his head, and puffed out his chest. "Nyep!" he patted his chest with one hand, the other hand still holding his knife.

"Alright then, onward!" I grinned. I felt somewhat tired myself, but I felt that the dungeon was where I belonged, and I was having too much fun to leave now.

We continued our trek until we came to a staircase. "Should we proceed?" I asked Hero, arching a brow.

Hero nodded, and before I could even think about stopping him, he took off down the stairs, and I followed, sprinting behind him.

We were greeted first by some vines and another Chitter, which gave us minimal problems. Before I could turn around to look at what else we were up against, a horrible stinging, burning pain shot through my arm and to the rest of my body.

I let out a gasp of pain, and gagged. It burned horribly, and I could feel my energy quickly depleting.

"NYAR!" I heard Hero let out a cry of pain, and turned my head to see him fall to the ground, twitching slightly.

"Hero?" I staggered towards him, the pain worsening by the second. My ears were filled with a loud buzzing noise, and I looked to see a giant, brownish-gray hornet, readying a stinger to fire again. "That must've been what got us..." I mumbled. "We're outta here." I grabbed Hero, closed my eyes, and used Return magic just as a stinger was about to hit my shoulder.

I found myself holding Hero at the entrance, and with terrible pain, I ran up the stairs, and out of the dungeon, wanting out as fast as I could.

I fell to the ground when I reached the top of the stairs, gasping and panting. The pain was excruciating, and I could feel a cold sweat forming at my brow.

"Brendan?" I heard a familiar voice, though I couldn't quite grasp who it was.

"Brendan!" I felt hands on my arms, and with some effort from the person, I was pulled into a sitting position, finding myself staring into Tabatha's eyes.

"Tabatha, what happened to that farmer and his monster?" Bianca folded her arms across her chest, and I thought I could see an impatient look on her face.

Tabatha was now sitting Hero up into sitting position, only to have him fall backwards.

"Pain... Hornet got us," I mumbled, and then let out a groan as the pain in my arm worsened, as if to shove my failure in my face.

"Oh, that's what's wrong," Tabatha grabbed my arm with one hand, and then yanked a giant stinger out of my arms.

"OW!" I snapped, not meaning for my voice to sound as harsh as it did.

"I am sorry," Tabatha frowned at me.

Hero let out a cry of pain when Tabatha snatched another stinger out of his shoulder.

"There... Do either of you feel any better?" she asked, looking first at me, and then Hero, who was finally able to sit up.

"Yeah... I bit better... Still sick," I sighed.

"Hm..." Tabatha grabbed my arm once more, and gently rolled up the sleeve. There was a round wound that was pouring blood, and surrounded by a black ring of dying flesh. "You are badly poisoned, I think... We need to get you and Hero to Lara."

"No... Just take us home, I'm sure we can sleep it off," I said, shaking my head. I was hurt, and nauseated, I really didn't feel like dealing with Lara.

"Are- Are you sure?" Tabatha asked, her eyes wide.

"Just do what they say so we can get home," Bianca sighed, the tone of her voice making it obvious that she was agitated.

"I'm sorry Miss Bianca, ma'am, but I must make sure that this man and this monster are okay, or I will feel terrble," Tabatha said, her voice more stern than apologetic. "Now, I will help you stand up, Brendan, and I will carry Hero. Is that alright?" Tabatha asked, standing now.

"Alright..." I began to push myself up, and Tabatha grabbed my arm that wasn't hurt, and pulled me to my feet. I slouched over, but I was able to stand.

Tabatha knelt, picked Hero up in one arm, and then put the other arm around me. "Okay, can you walk?"

I began to walk slowly, putting as little weight on Tabatha as possible. I noticed now that it was only sunset, but I would probably be asleep as soon as I got to my house.

I smiled when I saw the small shack of a house, and we stopped in front of the door.

"Please stand for one second, Brendan," Tabatha said. She let me go, and opened the door. She helped me to the bed, where I collapsed on my stomach.

"Where do I put Hero?" Tabatha asked now.

With effort, I moved over against the wall, and patted the space beside me. "He sleeps with me..." I mumbled.

"Okay..." Tabatha gently laid Hero down beside me, and then said, "Brendan... I will be right back with some supplies to bandage you up."

I nodded, but I never did get to see her come back, because I was asleep in less than a minute after she said this.


	5. First Attack

**Author's Note: **I have not updated this in what is becoming close to a month, and I really do sincerely apologize for that. I've been busy and I've had writer's block for this story, so that's why you haven't seen any updates.

Review, please, and thank you.

**Chapter 5: The First Attack**

_Summer Day Nine; Tuesday_

I awoke with my arm numb, my shirt off, and a bandage wrapped around my arm. I rubbed my eyes, and rolled over to see Hero was laying on the bed with his upper body clothing removed, and a bandage covering nearly his entire upper body. There was a bowl that was nearly filled with soup, two half empty glasses of water, and a half eaten plate of sashimi on the table beside the bed. Beside the food was a medical kit.

My eyes now traveled to the window, where the sun was just now beginning to become bright. I focused on the window, trying to think of what I needed to do today. The door opening startled me, and my eyes were now on the door.

"You're awake!" Tabatha beamed, walking over to me. "Are you able to think clearly now?"

"Uhm, yeah... I don't recall my thoughts being unclear," I rubbed the back of my neck sitting up. I noticed that Tabatha had a platter with two plates, and two glasses of milk in her hands.

"Oh, during the night, I tried to feed you and give you some water, and you mumbled nonsense, and groaned in pain, and that is all you seemed capable of doing at the moment, and Hero only cried," Tabatha's face held a look of worry. "Do you think you are capable of eating now?"

"Uhm, yeah, I think so, and thank you so much, Tabatha," I said, taking a plate and a glass of milk as she handed it to me. The plate had fried eggs and pumpkin tart on it, and it smelled heavenly.

Hero rolled over and sat up. "Nyeh?" His eyes were on my food.

"Oh, here, Hero," Tabatha handed Hero a plate of grilled fish of some sort.

"Nyee-hee!" Hero grinned broadly, and began to eat hungrily.

I ate at a slower pace, not wanting to embarrass myself. The food tasted heavenly as well, and I thanked Tabatha once more.

"Oh, it's nothing. I'm glad to help you," Tabatha's face held a pink tint. "After this, I need to check on the wounds you two have. Lara came by, and gave me some antidote herb to put on the wounds beforehand, and she said that it would be fine if I take care of you two, since I know more of elves and monsters."

I nodded as I took a big gulp of milk. "Lara's most likely going to scold me if she sees me."

"She wasn't happy about the condition you were in, and seeing Hero in the bed with you made her uneasy," Tabatha spoke hesitantly, "but I told her not to scold you, that you couldn't help it that you wanted to explore."

"That's Lara for you," I mumbled, finishing the last bite of pumpkin tart and sitting the plate on the bedside table.

"Okay, come here," Tabatha stood, bandages and a purple bottle in her hand.

I scooted to the edge of the bed, and sat up straight while Tabatha unwrapped my arm. The wound was dark purple, with blue and black bruises around it.

"This is going to sting a bit, but please, don't pull away," Tabatha said, as she poured a bit of the contents of the bottle onto a cloth and gently applied it to my wound.

I sharply inhaled as a minty smell filled my nasal cavity and the wound began to tingle and sting at the same time.

"I'll be done in just a minute," Tabatha spoke in a soothing voice. She finished cleaning my wound, and dressed it. "All done."

"Thanks, once more," I felt my cheeks burning. I was glad to have someone that would help me out, though I felt kind of shy since it was a woman who was probably close to my age.

"I am glad to help you Brendan, because I am glad that you came to town," Tabatha bowed her head, before she started working on Hero. "Now, I am not the only elf in the village, and I have someone that I can really relate to, even if you might not be from the Nation of Elves, and you might not remember your life before."

Hero let out a whimper when Tabatha began to clean his wounds, and I patted him on his good shoulder.

"Do you think that you two will be alright now?" Tabatha asked, as she began to pack everything up on one platter to take back home.

"Yeah, we should be fine. I had no intentions of going to the dungeon today anyway," I said, standing up.

"Okay, I will stop by and check on you two later and redress the wounds," Tabatha bowed as much as she could with her hands full.

"Do you need help carrying those back to the villa?" I asked. I wanted to try and repay Tabatha back in any way possible and that was the only thing that I could do at the time.

"No, I will be fine," Tabatha shook her head. "Thank you for the offer though. Bye, Brendan."

Tabatha left after this and Hero and I walked outside to be greeted by Anette, who didn't scream at the sight of Hero this time.

"Hey, Brendan," she beamed at me, her blue eyes sparkling.

"Uhm, hi, Anette," I smiled back at her, my eyes filled with confusion though. The way she had fled the other day had made me think that I wouldn't be seeing too much of her anymore.

"Sorry about the other day... I overreacted," Anette's face lit up bright red, and her eyes fell to the ground.

"Oh, it's fine, I think I understand," I said. I had a shirt in my hand, and quickly slipped it on over my head, thinking about the fact that I had almost forgot to do so.

"Sorry to you as well, little guy," Anette was speaking to Hero, but she wouldn't look at him.

"Nyer," Hero shrugged, keeping his distance from her.

"We're still friends, right?" She spoke in a sweet, nervous voice, and when she looked up at me, I noticed that her face was flustered.

"Sure, if you're not afraid of monsters and things," I shrugged nonchalantly.

"Okay, well, that's good," Anette brightened up now, and wrapped her arms around me.

"OW!" I yelped when her arm squeezed my upper arm. The pain burned as it traveled through my bicep.

"I'm sorry!" Anette pulled back. "What did I do?"

My eyes were on my arm. "I got attacked by a hornet yesterday, and it's still kinda hurt," I explained.

"Oh," Anette nodded. "Well, I need to get going, I hope you make this day a great day," her voice was her normal cheery tone.

"I'll try to make the best of it," I said. I couldn't help but let a smile take over my face at her cheery personality, even if I was slightly annoyed with her for being so afraid of Hero.

"Uh," Anette's face flustered once more, which confused me until she reached up, pulled me closer, and gave me a quick kiss on the mouth.

"Sorry, I had to do that," she mumbled. "Bye!" With that, she was gone.

"Uhhhh... That might be classified as romantic or rude, and I'm going with both," I said, speaking to no one in particular, wiping my mouth off afterwords.

My eyes fell to the field, and with nothing else to do, I decided that it would be best for Hero and I to get some weeds out of the fields with our good arms, so that I could plant crops when Autumn came.

We worked until the sky was starting to turn a golden color, and that's when I decided that it would be best to head into town and introduce myself to the couple of people that I had yet to meet.

Hero and I walked into town, wiping sweat from our foreheads, and Hero jumped into my arms when screams rang through the air, coming from the Town Square.

"Get off of me and let's go!" I dropped Hero, and with our weapons in hand, we ran for the square, only to be astonished by what we saw.

Tabatha, Eunice, Bianca, and Uzuki were all on the ground in the corner of the sitting area of the Square, and in front of them were three dark figures.

The figures were semi-transparent, and made of a dark purple color. Two of them appeared to be twin females with short hair and capes, and the other was a male, with huge shoulders, and elf ears. The male held an ax in his hands, while the females chanted eerily.

"Brendan!" Tabatha screamed, and even from afar, I could see tears glistening on her face.

"Huh?" the male figure turned around, while the females kept chanting. He had glowing red eyes, and his face was distorted with multiple scars. His teeth showed, razor sharp and black. He was dressed in a trench coat and boots, and the blade of his ax was probably wider than I was tall.

I was intimidated, yes, but I didn't want to find out what would happen if I didn't stop him. My eyes narrowed, I charged, Hero right behind me.

The figure laughed a maniacal laugh. "I knew I would see you..." he growled in a voice that didn't sound human. It had a gurgling growl to it, and it seemed to echo.

"Uhm, leave them alone!" I tried to speak in a brave voice as I summoned a ball of fire and tossed it at him.

He continued to laugh as he caught the fireball in his oversized hand. The fireball turned bright purple, and he tossed it back at me.

I gasped but rolled out of the way. Using all of my energy to cloak my sword in fire, I charged.

The man swung his ax, and though I thought it would collide with me, it traveled straight through my body, the force of its magic pushing me backwards.

"I'm heerreee," a musical voice chanted. In a flash of light, another female appeared, and this dark figure resembled Bianca, except she wore more ribbons in her twin drills hair, and her dress was a strapless dress.

"Boss, why did you get all of these girls?" she placed her hands on her hips, glaring at the man. "We only need this one."

With her words, Bianca floated into the air, making a gagging noise as if she was being choked.

"Miss Bianca!" Tabatha reached for her, but the male shot out an orb and hit Tabatha, knocking her down.

"We leave, right, Bianca?" the male looked up at the female figure, and she nodded. "Come, Iris," he nodded at the short haired girls and in another flash, the dark figures were gone, as well as the real Bianca.

"Miss Bianca..." Tabatha groaned weakly.

"Why did they take her?" Uzuki whimpered, her voice filled with only fear.

"Grahhh! How dare that thing try to harm milady!" Tsubute yelled furiously, his tiny fist punching a wall.

"Are you three okay?" I attempted to run over to the girls, but my whole body throbbed painfully, and I only managed to limp over.

"I think we're all fine," Eunice mumbled, tears in her eyes. "Except Bianca..."

"I'm sorry I couldn't save her," I mumbled, feeling ashamed.

"Do not feel ashamed," Uzuki cooed. "You tried your best, but he was much powerful than you."

Tabatha hadn't said anything. She sat with her legs folded under her, covering her face as she weeped.

"Tabatha, I am so sorry," I wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close to me. She didn't resist, but she continued to weep.

"Brendan!" I heard Candy's voice now, and I glanced over my shoulder to see her running towards me. "Did you see those bad spirits?"

I saw that her face was stained with tears, and I wondered why. "Yeah, they got Bianca..."

"I know," Candy nodded, collapsing next to me, and grabbing my arm tightly. "Something has come... The reason you were sent here has come!"

"So, those are evil spirits?" I asked, arching a brow. I was too confused at the moment for my brain to even function.

"Yes, that have taken the forms of the people of Trampoli at that," I could tell that Candy was crying when her voice cracked. "I think they want to take over Trampoli..."

"Why would they want to do that?" I asked, chewing on my lip.

"I dunno," Candy shook her head. "Brendan, you have to do something!"

"Please, try to save Miss Bianca as well," Tabatha sniffled after she spoke, and though she was no longer crying, she didn't stop leaning on me.

"You must stop this if you are chosen to stop this!" Uzuki agreed. "I would offer you help, but... As a shrine maiden, that is not my duty!"

"You milady gets hurt, I'm blaming you for this!" Tsubute snapped.

"You hush, Tsubute!" Uzuki snapped back at him.

"Please protect Trampoli," Eunice spoke with worry in her voice.

"I'll try my best to, though it seems that I am already failing," I spoke in a voice full of uncertainty.

"You can get monsters to help you," Tabatha suggested, a smile slowly forming.

"Nyeh!" Hero grinned broadly.

"You're right," I nodded, thinking for a moment. "How can I get Bianca back, Candy?"

"I dunno, try exploring the ruins, they might give you some help," Candy suggested. She had also stopped crying but was still leaning on me.

"I don't know if I have the energy to do so today, though," I mumbled to myself. I needed to save Bianca though. That was the least I could do for Tabatha.

"You don't need to overwork yourself, still, Brendan. You are not immortal, and Trampoli will fall if you get killed," Candy spoke in a worried voice. "Bianca is gone, but you have time to rescue her."

Candy stood now. "Do not trust Bianca if she comes back unless Brendan gives you the okay to trust Bianca, okay?"

"Okay," Tabatha nodded, but I could see uncertainty in her pale blue eyes.

"I understand," Uzuki nodded.

"I will be careful not to trust Bianca," Eunice promised.

I stood now, helping all three of the girls to their feet. "I need to go to the bathhouse, and then I think I'll try to explore the Green Ruins or something," I said.

All of the girls nodded and after a few words of parting, they left Hero and I in the square. I was in terrible pain in my arm and abdomen, but I needed to continue on anyway. Letting out a tired sigh, I made my way for the bathhouse.

**Author's Note: **This didn't turn out to be nearly as long as I thought it would and I will update this soon, because I have ideas for the next two chapters. =] Unless school is mean to me, then I won't update soon. -_-


	6. Forging

**Chapter 6: Forging**

_Summer Day 10; Wednesday_

I was awaken by a loud knocking on my door, and I groaned as I rolled out of bed to answer the door, not bothering to put my shirt on. I walked to the door, rubbing my eyes, and opened it to find Anette staring at me.

Her face lit up bright pink when she saw me. "Sorry for waking you..." she mumbled. "Ganesha really needs to see you, and she told me that it would be best for you to come before her shop opens up."

"Hm?" I arched a brow. "Ganesha is the blacksmith or something, right?"

"Yep!" Anette nodded. "Do you need me to show you where her shop is?"

"No, but thanks for the offer," I sighed. "I'll get dressed and go see her."

After saying bye to Anette, I dressed, and without eating breakfast, Hero and I headed for the blacksmith, with me wondering why the blacksmith would want to see me.

"Come in!" A tall, blonde haired woman, with bright blue eyes and pointed, elf ears answered the door before I even managed to knock. She had a large hammer in one hand, and I wondered how she managed that.

"May I ask why you needed to see me?" I ran my fingers through my hair as she showed me to a giant stove-like machine.

"Nyerh?" Hero whined, rubbing fiercely at his eyes.

"It's about forging, and I needed to give you something," Ganesha explained. "Are you gonna introduce me to your friend?"

"Oh, this is Hero," I said. "He's sleepy, and he hasn't had breakfast, so he's kinda grumpy."

Ganesha giggled, and winked at me. "It'll only be a few minutes." She turned her back to me, and when she turned around, she held a golden sword in her hand. "I made this for you, so you can save Bianca as fast as you can."

"So, everyone has heard of my failure to save Bianca, huh?" I felt disappointed in myself, but I hesitantly took the blade from Ganesha.

"Don't blame yourself," Ganesha comforted me. "Everyone messes up sometimes."

I just stared at the sword in my hand, not wanting to say anything. Yes, everyone made mistakes, but my mistake was worse than a lot of mistakes, I thought.

"Anyway, that is the only special sword that I will ever make for you, and I shouldn't have gave you that one," Ganesha leaned against the counter. "It's called a Luck Blade, and as long as your holding that weapon, your magic can't be sealed, and you won't be poisoned."

"Thank you," I said. I still refused to look at the woman, because for some odd reason, she intimidated me.

"Anyway, today, I'm going to teach you how to forge, and then I'm going to tell you how you can go about getting a nice forge, similar to the one that I have," Ganesha said. She handed me a rod of some sort, and a hammer.

"What do you want to make?" Ganesha asked me. "You have a choice of spears, one-handed swords, two-handed swords, axes, and hammers."

"Uhh," I really didn't know the value of any of the weapons. "An ax?" It came out as more of a question than an answer.

"Okay, we're going to start you out with a Battle Ax, though it might be a little difficult," Ganesha walked over to a shelf, and took down a silver ax, with a blade that appeared to be very dangerous. "Now, choose another ingredient," she pointed to the ingredients lined up on the table.

"Uhh," I thought about how it would be nice if she told me which ingredients could be used to make axes.

"Just pick an ingredient or two, and if it can't be used, I'll replace it with something that can be used," Ganesha placed her hands on her hips.

"Uh," I noticed a glowing red crystal, and as I placed my hand near it, I felt its warmth pulse through my body, and the urge to use my fire affinity overwhelmed me. "This," I picked up the crystal.

"Okay, that's all you need to make one weapon," she said, walking over to me. "I forgot that you had a fire affinity or something like that. This will be the perfect weapon for you if you can get it right."

"Okay," I said, not knowing how to respond.

"You really don't know what you're doing at all, do you?" Ganesha winked at me. "Don't worry. One day with me, and you'll get the basics of forging, and then you can become an expert forger, and give me some competition."

"I doubt that," I shook my head.

Ganesha then began to instruct me on how to combine the Fire Crystal with the Battle Ax, and the whole time that we worked, I could feel that magic of the crystal pulsing through me. I hoped that I would be able to get the forging right, and make the weapon that I was attempting to make.

I heated the ax and the crystal, and as I placed the crystal on top of the ax, and struck it with the hammer, the ax began to glow with a fiery orange glow that amazed me. I repeated the process a few more times, and once I was finished, the ax was a red-orange color, and the edges curved downward a bit more. Ganesha had instructed me to melt a pattern onto it, so it had silver swirls decorating the area around the blade.

Ganesha smiled proudly at me. "You're better at this than I thought you were. You made a fine looking Heat Ax."

"I like it," I commented. I tried to pick it up in one hand, and I could feel the strain on the arms of my muscles.

"You need to practice with it before you can use it in battle all the time," Ganesha said. "And when you come up against even stronger monsters, you'll have to make more weapons yourself, in your own forge."

"How do I go about getting the forge?" I asked. I could still feel the heat from the ax pulsing through my body, and I couldn't wait to practice with the ax and be able to use it.

"You need to gather up lumber, and then talk to Kross and build an extension for a forge room onto your house," Ganesha began to explain. "Then you need to go to Lute, the traveling merchant who comes on Holiday, and get the two forge upgrades."

"Okay, that doesn't sound _that _bad," I shrugged.

"I will warn you that it is pretty expensive to get all of this done, but it is well worth it," Ganesha said. "I have a strong feeling that you're going to have to have a strong weapon to beat those evil spirits."

"Okay, I'll keep that in mind," I nodded, smiling.

"You can get the elemental crystals and some simplistic weapons here, or you can get crystals and other ingredients from monsters in the dungeons," Ganesha explained.

My eyes went to the shelf, which had an array of plain weapons, as well as red, blue, brown, and green crystals. "Thanks, Ganesha," I said once more, waving as I was about to leave. I nearly fell when I felt Hero tug at my pants leg.

"Nye- Nyeh?" Hero held his small knife piece up to me, as if asking me if I could give him a better weapon.

Ganesha chuckled, and took the small dagger from Hero. "I'll do this as well, but after that, Brendan's going to have do it for you, okay?"

"Nyee- hee!" Hero hopped up in glee, and nodded to Ganesha.

She took the small knife piece, and in a matter of seconds, she turned around with a small sword that resembled a Broadsword, but it had a light blue shimmer to it. "It's a very tiny Aqua Sword for our mini warrior," she winked at Hero as she handed him the sword. "Take care of it."

"Nyeh- Heee!" Hero hopped up and down, cheering, his small sword in one hand.

"Thanks once more, Ganesha," I said, grinning at my happy monster. "I owe a lot to you."

I left the Ganesha's shop with a smile on my face, and my ax in my hands. "Now we can make it through the Green Ruins and see if there is any sign of Bianca there," I spoke to Hero.

"Nyehhh..." He nodded, but it was obvious that he wasn't paying too much attention to me. He was admiring the small sword.

I chuckled to myself.

"Oh, how do you fair, Brendan?" Uzuki spoke to me as I passed her. She had a strange weapon in her hands that looked sort of like a mix between a spear and a sword.

"Oh, hey, Uzuki," I waved, putting my ax away. "How are you?"

"I am fine," Uzuki smiled. "You have made new weapons with Ganesha?" She said, taking notice to my ax before I put it away.

"Yeah, she taught me how to forge so I could do it myself," I explained, my eyes falling to the weapon in her hands. "What is that?"

"Oh, this is a Naginata, a weapon native to my eastern country," Uzuki said, holding the weapon up so that I could see it. "It is very light, so that it can be handled deftly by women as well, but it is also very powerful. It is a common weapon among shrine maidens."

"Oh, that seems pretty cool," I nodded.

"I train with it a lot so that I will become powerful," she said, her eyes downcast.

"What's wrong?" I asked, arching a brow.

Her eyes filled with tears. "I was hoping to use it on my quest for my older brother, who has been missing for a long amount of time now..." she whimpered.

"I'm sorry... Do you want me to try and find some sign of him as I search for the evil spirits?" I asked. I didn't want her to burst into tears, and I had a feeling that she was close to doing so.

"Would- would you help me find Brother?" she looked up at me, her eyes still glistening with tears.

"Yeah, I'll look for all the signs of him that I can," I nodded. "If I find anything out of the ordinary at all, I'll be sure to tell you."

"Thank you so much. I am in debt to you, Brendan," Uzuki smiled.

"Grahh!" Tsubute spoke for the first time, though I wasn't sure that I considered his ferocious yell speaking.

I backed away now. I wasn't sure if Tsubute, being a monster, would be able to harm me, but I didn't want to help out.

"Tsubute..." Uzuki sighed with annoyance.

"Thank you for joining in to help milady find her brother," Tsubute spoke to me in a gentle voice, for what I was pretty sure was the first time.

"You're welcome, Tsubute," I began to relax once more.

"BUT!" the volume of Tsubute's voice began to rise again. "Do not you dare try and seduce milady during this time. Milady deserves more than some ruffian as yourself!"

"Tsubute!" Uzuki snapped, her face turning bright pink. She then turned to me and bowed. "I am sorry for Tsubute. He can be most rude at times."

"It's fine," I shrugged. "and Tsubute, I'm not going to try and seduce Uzuki," I spoke to Tsubute.

"Grahh... No, you will not, or I will-" Uzuki interrupted him.

"You will do nothing, Tsubute!" she snapped. "If I do fall for someone that is not of your approval, it will be on my own free will!"

I could feel that there was going to be an argument soon, so I said, "I really need to be going now, so I'll talk to you later, Uzuki, Tsubute."

"Okay, bye, Brendan," Uzuki bowed her head once more, and Tsubute said nothing as I started to depart.

As I walked, I tried to think of what I needed to do now. It hit me when I walked past the Viviage villa. I stopped, and sighed, before walking up to the door and knocking. I hoped, in the back of my mind, that Tabatha was okay.

The door opened and my heart dropped when I saw that Tabatha's face was tear-stained, and though she wore her maid's dress, her hair was down, and didn't appear to have be brushed.

"Oh, hello, Brendan," she bowed her head, slightly. "D- did you find anything on Miss Bianca?"

I let out a sigh, and for a mere second, I regretted knocking on the door. "No, and I'm sorry. I was actually on my way to the Green Ruins to investigate," I said, frowning. "May I come in?"

Tabatha nodded, and we sat at one of the tables in the lower floors of the foyer. "Do you think that she will be okay?" I heard Tabatha's voice cracking as she spoke.

"I'm sure she'll be okay, Tabatha," I said, but in all honesty, I was reassuring myself more than Tabatha.

I saw tears swell in Tabatha's eyes, and she reached for my hand that was on the table. Her hand was shaking as she placed it on top of mine. "I'm so worried..."

"Myeh..." Hero had tears swelling up in his eyes as well, and he hopped into Tabatha's lap and wrapped his arms around her neck. "Meh-Meh," he spoke in as much of a comforting tone as he could muster.

Tabatha leaned her chin on Hero's head, and sighed, tears streaming down her face now. "I am sorry," she said, realizing that she was holding my hand. She snatched her hand back, and wrapped her arms around Hero.

"It's fine," I said. I could feel my face getting warm.

"I am also sorry that you had to see me like this," she added, avoiding eye contact now. "I'm just so worried. I have no idea what could be happening to her and..." her voice faded and she sobbed.

I stood up, heaving a sigh, and walked over to her. "Tabatha," I spoke in a gentle voice, and leaned over her. "I'll make sure that Bianca gets back safely. Please believe me." I wrapped an arm around her shoulder, and gave her a one-armed hug.

"I'll believe you, Brendan," she said, after not speaking for a minute. "I just hope you are strong enough to get her back..."

"Hero and I will try our hardest, and in the end, I know we'll succeed," I said, narrowing my eyes. I was now confident in this. I had to do this and put an end to the evil spirits for the sake of Trampoli.

"Thank you, Brendan," Tabatha leaned into my chest for a moment before I spoke again.

"I'm going to the Green Ruins now, if that is okay, Tabatha," I said, standing up straight. "I need to save Bianca, now."

"Okay, Brendan," Tabatha nodded. "Please be careful, and try not to harm monsters on your way there."

"I'll avoid as many as possible," I said, nodding. I knew that it was impossible to avoid monsters in the dungeons, not to mention, something in the back of my mind urged me to fight, but I didn't want to worry Tabatha anymore than she was already worried.

"Good luck, Brendan," Tabatha stood, "and take these." She handed me a tray of blue drinks. "They will give you revive you a bit if you feel like you might faint."

"Thanks," I nodded, putting the tray away in my bag. I looked down at Hero, who was now standing on the ground. "You ready?"

"Nyeh!" Hero bounced up and down, and then nodded.

We departed from the Viviage villa, on our way to the Green Ruins. The sun was high in the sky, and hoped to be back before the next day.


	7. The First Boss Fight

**Author's Note: **I'm going to apologize ahead of time if I get the layout to the Green Ruins wrong. I will never be able to memorize the entire Green Ruins and it might not be exactly right, but it will still be the Green Ruins.

**Chapter 7: The First Boss Fight**

I felt the cool, Spring Breeze as I entered the Green Ruins, and with my Luck Blade in hand, I dashed for the vines and slashed them down. I had the urge to use my Heat Ax but I knew that it wouldn't be best, because I would be tired by the time I got to the bottom of the Green Ruins.

I remembered the way through the the first floor, and I didn't bother torturing the Ants or Chitters. I had told Tabatha that I would try my best not to harm monsters, and there was no sense at all in fighting the monsters that were way weaker than me anyway.

I rushed into the second floor, but I paused for a minute, remembering what had happened the last time that I was on the second floor. I held my Luck Blade in front of me, and it sparkled, and I recalled one of its effects. I couldn't be poisoned as long as I had this blade in my hand.

"Nyer?" Hero looked up at me, and it was clear to me that he was wondering why we weren't proceeding.

"Let's go, buddy," I said. "Be careful, because I'm protected by the Luck Blade, but you are not."

I slashed through the vines to be greeted by not only the Hornets from last time, but also a plant-like creature, with a small, yellow head. It seemed to dance, before shooting bright orbs at me.

I jumped back, barely managing to dodge one of them.

Hero ducked to dodge and darted forward, slashing the plant with his Aquasword. The plant wriggled, and for a second, I thought Hero was about to be attacked, but it fell over instead.

I spun forward now, striking the Hornet as hard as I could with my blade, knocking it to the ground. I knew that it wasn't the same Hornet that had attacked Hero and me, but I was still angry at all Hornets for that happening.

After two hits from Hero and me, the monster gate vanished, and we moved along. We were next greeted by a Chitter, which we ran past, not bothering with it. I climbed over some rocks, discovering that I wasn't as quick as I thought I would be, and it that it would've been easier to have broken the rocks with my hammer.

We were next greeted by two blobs of green slime that had sharp tentacles protruding from what I assumed were their foreheads. I swung my sword, but the Slimes vanished underground.

"Nyer!" Hero pointed to the two shadows that were under our feet. He struck at them, his sword bouncing off the ground with a _CLANG!_

I watched the shadows circle us for a second, and realizing what was bound to happen, I grabbed Hero by the arm and jumped out of the way.

I was a bit too late on my jumping, I realized, when one tentacle stabbed me into the flesh of my lower leg. I felt a burning sensation, but my sword flashed, causing my entire body to glow for a moment, protecting me from poison.

I landed, and with an omnidirectional attack, killed both of the Slimes, and the portal. "Dammit!" I sighed, rubbing at my leg. Though I wasn't poisoned, there was a stream of blood trailing down my leg, staining my pants. "Forget it," I rolled my eyes, and moved on.

I slashed down more vines, and smiled to myself when I saw the stairway. Onto floor three, I thought, as Hero and I dashed down the staircase.

I broke two crates at the end of the staircase to find a cucumber and a round of bottle of purple liquid. I put both away in my bag, wondering why I had found a cucumber.

I didn't dwell on it long, as in the first room, two gates sent out four slimes, who all vanished at the sight of Hero and me.

We moved away from the shadows at a quick speed, and when the blobs came up, we unleashed our wrath, managing to kill two of them, and injure two of them.

The two remaining Slimes vanished once more, and Hero dashed to destroy the monster gate, while I took care of the monsters.

We continued on through a corridor, to be greeted by two orange mushroom things with goofy faces and huge tongues.

"What the hell?" I arched a brow, but didn't have much time to dwell on it, as one of the mushrooms slapped me with its large tongue, knocking me off of my feet."Ow..." I groaned, feeling a sick sensation as its spores covered me. "Hero..."

"Nyer!" Hero dashed, and with four consecutive hits, defeated one of the mushrooms.

Still feeling somewhat light headed, I climbed to my feet and shook off. Now angered by the monster's ability to knock me down, I lunged at the other monster. My blade hit hard with a critical hit, and the monster was gone. I looked at Hero to see that he was standing where the portal used to be, a huge grin on his face. "Let's go," I sighed, smiling to myself.

I slashed my vines, and before I could even see the Hornet, I felt a stinging sensation in my forearm. My sword lit up, though, and the sensation was gone. "Damn you stupid Hornets!" I snapped, annoyed at the fact that a small bug monster was the one that hurt me the most. I hit it with my sword and continued to swing until the monster gate was also gone. I was panting afterword, but it felt good to explode on my worst monster enemy.

"Nreh?" Hero was standing, staring at me like I was crazy.

"Uh, sorry about that," I mustered a grin, slightly embarrassed by my monster friend thinking I was crazy.

"OWW!" I snapped, falling to the ground when something exploded against my head. I looked around to see eggshells scattered on the floor. "The hell?" I arched a brow. I looked up to see two chicken like monsters.

One of the monsters shot another egg, this time hitting Hero in the chest and knocking him back, though he didn't fall.

"Chickens..." I rolled my eyes. I felt weak at the time. I had nearly been stung by a Hornet, licked by Big Muck, and nearly knocked out by a Clucky.

I remembered the energy drinks that Tabatha had given me, and I pulled one out, chugged it down, ignoring the bitter taste, and hopped to my feet, feeling refreshed. Hero and I charged at the Cluckies, and it didn't take much to get the two birds down. I thought I saw Hero kneel and pick something up, but I ignored it. If he wanted to keep battle souvenirs, that was his choice.

We ran behind a waterfall now, to be greeted by a creature with a skull head, dark purple hair, and blue clothing. He had a stick of some sort in his hands, and when he saw us, he backed away, before making a noise and shooting fire at us.

I dodged, and my whole body heated up. I knew I wasn't on fire; the monster had a fire affinity. "Hero, don't attack it. I'm taming it." I called to Hero.

"Neh," Hero shrugged, and backed away.

I pulled out the Pet Glove and walked over to the monster. I held out my empty hand, and let it glow with fire. I didn't know whether or not it would help make him trust me if I showed him that I also had a fire affinity, but I was going to try.

"Hm?" the monster looked at my hand with its hallow eyes. I thought for a minute, and something told me that it was a Mage, a Little Mage.

"It's okay, buddy, I'm not going to hurt you," I spoke softly. Still holding my hand out- though I could feel my energy depleting- I took the Glove and ran it through the monster's hair.

The monster, who I now realized by its giggle was a female, giggled and then hugged me. "Hi!" she spoke in an echoing, high pitched, feminine voice.

"You can talk?" I arched a brow.

The monster giggled once more. "Of course. A lot of magic using monsters can speak!"

"Uh," I didn't know how to respond.

"So, since you want me to join your team, you want me to return to your barn, correct?" the mage asked, tilting her head.

"Uh, do you know where the barn is?" I was confused as hell, but trying to keep my cool.

"Yep, it becomes our knowledge when you befriend us. All I have to do is use the Return magic," her skull-head opened into what might've been a grin. "My name is Ember, by the way. I gave myself a name, so you don't get to name me," she said, before vanishing with return magic.

I shrugged, still confused by the monster's ability to speak. I didn't have time to dwell on it, though. I felt bad for wasting time to get the monster in the first place. I started to move again, and ended up running into two Cluckies and some vines.

I fought the Cluckies off with ease, and was once again happy to see the next stair case. I was realizing that this dungeon wasn't that big, and this satisfied me, because I knew I didn't have the energy to last that much longer.

We ran down the stairs, though our pace was slowing. I once more cut my way through vines, and came across the same circular layout that the other floors had. We fought more Hornets and Cluckies, along with a couple of Slimes to make our way to more vines. After destroying the Hornet that was in front of the vines, I walked up the small staircase and back down, wondering why the hill was even there.

A gasp escaped my throat when I entered the room beyond the small staircase to find myself against a Hornet, a Clucky, a Little Mage, and a pink cow/buffalo hybrid.

I swung my sword at the Hornet, and managed to take it down pretty easily, but the tables were quickly turned. I felt my whole side taken over by pain as the Buffamoo charged into me, knocking me hard against the stairs. I let out a struggled gasp, winded, and grabbed for my sword. Just as the Buffamoo lowered its head to ram me into the ground, I slashed at it, Hero helping me as well.

As the Buffamoo teetered, about to collapse, I scrambled out from under it, and got back to my feet.

After this, we had little trouble defeating the Little Mage and Clucky. We advanced on, and I was surprised to see that we had already found the staircase.

Apart from a few small patches of soil and a couple of crates containing colored grass, the only thing on the fifth floor was a giant door. I chugged another energy drink, took out my Heat Ax, and approached the door.

Once the door had opened, Hero and I walked in to find ourselves in a round room with a giant nest. The nest had large feathers surrounding it, and for a moment, I wondered what the room was about.

A loud, rooster cry startled me out of thought, and I stumbled backwards just as a monster landed in the nest. The monster had the front half a chicken, with giant white wings and large chicken legs for front legs, and the back half of a lion, with golden fur, and lion hind legs. The dark Bianca spirit was standing on top of the chicken griffin, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Aw, you got here before I was even able to do my Bianca impersonating!" she pouted. "That's no fun at all!"

"Just shut up!" I snapped, finally reaching my boiling point. "Just shut up because I'm going to take you down and get Bianca back!"

"Oh, really?" The girl chuckled. "You'll have to take down both my monster and me. Do you think you can do that?"

"I know I can!" I snapped.

"Alright..." the girl shrugged. "Your prize is up there." She pointed behind her, where Bianca was floating in a dark energy, unconscious.

I narrowed my eyes, and without another word, I charged, swinging my ax to hit the griffin in its chest.

The griffin cawed, and tried to slap me away with its wing. I grabbed onto its wing, still holding onto my ax with one hand, and held on tight as it tried to shake me off.

Once it had slowed down, I swung my ax and hit it in the neck. The bird cawed and the girl on its back snickered.

"Let go of my monster!" she said, in a pouty voice. She shot out an orb of magic that hit me, knocking me into the ground a bit harder than what I expected.

The griffin then charged, and as I barely managed to dodge its feet, I grabbed onto its tail. I noticed that Hero was holding on tightly to the feathers of its neck, slicing at its neck, barely causing damage.

The griffin turned quickly, throwing me against the wall. I grunted, but held on still to both my weapon and the tail. I could feel the excruciating pain in my back, but I was too far in the fight to give up now. With effort, I pulled myself onto the griffin's back.

"What the hell are you doing?" the spirit snapped, backing away.

"Rescuing Bianca," I panted. I sounded confident, but my head swirled, and I knew I needed the opportunity to revive myself with an energy drink. "Fire..." I spoke to myself, using my energy instead of my health. "Fire..." I breathed. Within seconds, my body heated to the point that it actually hurt, and the ax burst into flames. "I'm putting an end to this!" I cried as I slammed the ax into the Griffin, an explosion of flames surrounding me.

The griffin cried out in pain, before falling over.

During the fall, I managed to gain a bit of energy to hop off instead of falling, and as I landed, pain was the only thing that I could think about. I fell to one knee, my whole body shaking.

"Looks like your going to lose," the girl chanted, levitating a few feet in front of me. She sounded fine, but her ripped dress, and shaking legs told me other wise.

"No..." I breathed. I pulled out an energy drink, only to have time to drink half of it before the girl sent a wave of magic at me, knocking me backwards.

I knew I was going to hit the wall, and I probably wouldn't be able to get back up if it happened, but Hero stopped me.

He got behind me, and with all his strength, he managed to bring me to a stop before I hit the wall.

"Thanks..." I panted.

The goblin gave me a thumbs up, and for the first time, I saw that he was almost as beaten as I was.

"All... I've got to do..." I breathed. "Is... Summon fire... Once more."

I picked up my ax and steadied myself as best as I could, and called upon my element within once more. "Fire..." The ax lit up, and before my energy drained, I threw the ax. I thought the girl was going to dodge, and she tried to, but as my hands began to glow, the ax targeted the girl, and in a burst of fire, she was on the ground.

The girl was almost completely transparent now, and she glared at me with eyes similar to that of Bianca's. "This isn't the end... Boss considers me the weakest..." With that, she vanished.

Bianca fell to the ground, still unconscious, and I fell to my knees. I put my ax away, and with what energy I had left, which was hardly any, I crawled over to Bianca, placed my hand on her arm, and used the Return spell.

At the exit to the ruins, I tried to pull myself to my feet, but couldn't. Hero and I- with much effort- hoisted Bianca onto my back, and even though it seemed to take an hour or more a step, I crawled out of the Green Ruins.

At the entrance, Tabatha waited, and she gasped when she saw all of us.

"You saved her..." she mumbled, "but you're so hurt..."

I fell into the grass. "My angel... Is here... To help me... Once again?" I smiled up at her. It was night, and the moonlight made her hair shine. I didn't mean to sound flirty when I called her "my angel" but it obviously did, because her face lit up.

"Of course," she said.

Everything went black just as she wrapped her arms around me. It was becoming a familiar feeling, after all.


	8. Departing from Trampoli

**Author's Note: **I'll soon stop updating this, because I've got to get some things together, and until Sir Gigous and I get the plans for the next chapter set up, there won't be another update after this one. For those who read The Nicor Chronicles as well, I'm thinking of taking a week break on it, but if not, I might get it updated tomorrow or the next day, and if I don't then, I'm planning to update all of my stories Monday, because I'm out of school and can't spend it with my boyfriend.:(

**Chapter Eight: Departing From Trampoli**

_Summer Day 11; Thursday_

I awoke in a place that wasn't familiar. The bed was soft, and the blanket that I was under felt as if it was made of velvet or silk. The room a brighter light than my house, and there was a nice wooden wardrobe, and a glass table in the room. Sighing, I rolled over and cursed loudly as pain shot through my back and arms. I let out a groan, and didn't move another inch, afraid of more pain. I could remember the boss fight, but I assumed that the adrenaline that I had been feeling had kept me from feeling the full effect of the attacks.

The door across from the bed opened, and Tabatha hurriedly walked to my bedside, her eyes wide. "What's wrong?" She sat in a cushioned chair that was placed in front of the bed.

"Pain," I mumbled. Now that I was aware of the pain, I realized how bad it hurt me to breathe.

"I'll fix it as much as I can... Lara said you had three broken ribs, and a fractured wrist, so I'm not going to be able to make it go away completely," Tabatha took out a bottle of some kind of medicine, and a piece of white cloth. "Thank you for saving Miss Bianca..." She mumbled sheepishly.

"You're welcome," I said, smiling a bit. "Where's Hero?" I then asked, glancing around the room as best as I could without moving.

"He's in my bedroom... There's more room in my bed, and Lara and I thought it would be bad if either of you two ended up hitting eachother's wounds during the night," Tabatha explained. She then gave me a sympathetic look, that at the moment, I didn't understand. "I'm going to have to roll you over onto your stomach, and it's going to hurt..." She said, quietly. Without giving me time to complain, she placed her hands on my upper arm, and rolled me onto my stomach.

The process seemed simple, but the pain was nearly unbearable. I cried out in pain, and gripped the bed as tight as I could to prevent myself from shoving Tabatha away.

"I'm so sorry," Tabatha said, her voice cracking. She then applied the medicine to the cloth, and began to rub it on my back, my side, and my left arm.

Slowly, the pain began to weaken, though it still hurt like hell. I groaned, suddenly feeling bad for the way Tabatha had had to take care me after I went in the dungeon. "Is Bianca okay?" I asked, my thoughts now on the battle from yesterday.

"Yes," Tabatha said. "She had a bruise on her wrist, and there are light bruises on her neck from when they took her, but apart from that, she is fine. She went to the beach, and told me to tell you that she said thanks for saving her life."

I smiled. "That's good." Was all I could think of the say.

"Brendan, you're in horrible shape, though," Tabatha's expression saddened. "Lara was upset that you pushed yourself so far over your limit. She said that your heart was beating shallowly when she arrived, and she even feared for your life."

Tabatha had said that Lara was worried, but by the tears in her eyes, I knew that she was probably just as worried as Lara had been.

"I've got to roll you back over. You've got a couple of wounds on your chest that need to be treated," she let out a sigh as she said this, and I braced myself this time for the pain as she rolled me over, and began to rub more of the medicine on my chest. "I've got one more wound after this," she said.

"If you don't mind me asking, why doesn't Lara do this?" I asked. "Aren't I supposed to be in the hospital right now?"

"You're an elf, and a full-blooded elf at that, I believe," Tabatha explained. "And plus," she looked down. "I know how you don't like the hospital very much, so I figured you would be more comfortable here, with me nursing you back to health."

"Oh..." I nodded.

"I've told you this before, haven't I?" Tabatha asked me. Now she moved down to my leg, pulling the blanket off of me. I saw that one of my pants' legs had been cut, revealing the wound where the Slime had attacked me.

"I think, but I figured it was just for that one time, because you knew how to treat Hornet stings the best or something," I shrugged, and regretted doing so as pain coursed through my shoulders.

"No, I think when you get injured, if I can, I will try to take care of you," Tabatha said. She seemed to get lost in her thoughts after this.

"What's up?" I asked, arching a brow at her.

"I also like your company when your here," She said, blushing fiercely. "I hope that is not wrong."

I grinned, my face warming. "Nah, there's nothing wrong with that."

"I..." Tabatha's eyes fell to the ground. "I must go cook." With that, she went to get up, but before I actually thought, I grabbed her hand to stop her.

After she stopped, looking at me with her face bright red, I realized that I had no idea what I had intentions of doing, so I did something that was utterly cliché. I kissed the top of her hand, and then smiled at her.

She apparently didn't know how to respond at all, so she smiled sheepishly, and left the room in a bit of a hurry.

After a second of lying in the bed, I, with great effort and much pain, pulled myself into a sitting position and from there I got to my feet and walked over to a vanity that was in the room. I looked horrible, to say the least. There were four scratches on my chest, surrounded by bruises, and my whole left side was black, blue, and purple. It looked odd when I breathed, and you could tell that some of my ribs were broken. I was afraid to even try to see what my back looked like, because that was the main part of me that had taken the impacts from fighting the Chicken Griffin.

I tried to clear my mind of the thoughts of how terrible I looked, because I really wasn't one to feel sorry for myself. Instead, I began to think about whether or not I should make my way to the kitchen and keep Tabatha company. I was about to leave the room, when I heard a loud knocking on the front door to the villa. I stepped to the entrance of my room to see Tabatha open the door and let Anette in.

"Hey, you're up!" Anette cheered, and in what seemed like the blink of an eye, she was standing in front of me. "How are you? I heard that you got hurt!"

"I'm sore, and a bit broken, but apart from that, I'm fine," I responded, trying to muster up a smile as I spoke. "Tabatha does an excellent job of keeping me well." I peered over Anette after I said this to see Tabatha blush and disappear behind the big doors that led to other part of the house.

"I don't get to see you enough!" Anette pouted at me, sticking her bottom lip out. "I waited outside your house for awhile, and Bianca told me you were here with Tabatha."

"Uhm," I really didn't know too much of how to respond. I was starting to get the feeling that Anette wanted to be more than friends with me, and the feeling made me uneasy. "I'm sorry. I had to save Bianca," I eventually said, flatly.

"Well, this Holiday do you want to spend some time together, maybe go to the lake?" Anette asked, blushing. "Or... We could even do it next Holiday?"

"Uhhhhh..." I didn't respond, hoping that Tabatha would come back, and save me from my awkward situation.

My hopes came true, as Tabatha came back with a tray containing two cups of tea. I grabbed her arm, and pulled her close to me and whispered into her ear, "Please go along with this..."

I then wrapped my arm around her waist and put on a cheerful, yet nervous, smile. "Actually, Tabatha and I were going to go the lake next Holiday. It's my payment for her taking care of me."

Anette's eyes widened, and I thought I saw the shine of tears. "So, you won't go with me?" She whimpered.

"I'm sorry, but I asked Tabatha this morning," I said. I then nudged Tabatha in the back. "Isn't that right, Tabatha?"

Tabatha's face lit up bright pink and her light blue eyes widened. I thought at first that she was going to panic, but instead, she said in a shaky voice: "Yes, we are going to the lake next Holiday..."

Anette made a pouty face once more. "Okay. I'm still glad that you are okay, though." And with that, she turned and left, and I could tell that she was upset with me.

"I don't think that was very nice," Tabatha frowned at me, gently pulling away from me at the same time. "Why did you turn her down?"

For a moment, I wanted to make some kind of sarcastic remark and ask Tabatha why she was being oblivious, and then I wanted to say something that I thought would be charming, but I didn't think either of these would be a very good choice. "Tabatha..." I sighed. "In your head, you know why I rejected her, you're just denying it."

"What do you mean, Brendan?" Tabatha gave me an inquisitive look, and for a moment, it almost fooled me.

At the moment, my strongest urge was to kiss her, but I knew that probably would have bad repercussions, since I'd only known her for a few days. So, instead, I simply shook my head and limped over to one of the sofas that were on the upper level of the villa.

"Is you leg very sore?" Tabatha asked me, noting my limp.

"In all honesty," I sighed. "I'm just in pain almost everywhere..."

Tabatha opened her mouth to speak, but there was a loud knock on the door, and Candy and Kanno burst into the room, and ran up to the stairs.

I noticed that Candy had tears streaming down her face, and Kanno looked very concerned.

"Brendan..." Candy cried. "They-they got Cinnamon!" She wailed.

I didn't speak for a moment. I simply chewed my lip, not wanting to believe it. All eyes were on me when I slammed my fist into the cushion next to me and cursed loudly. "It's nowhere near over, is it?"

"No..." Candy whimpered. "Cinnamon isn't in the dungeons of Trampoli, though..."

My eyes widened. "Then where is she?" I asked, trying to calm myself down.

"I've," Candy paused, thinking. "I've communicated with the spirits, and she is located in a small, underground dungeon near a town called Lynnia," Candy handed me a scribbled down map. "I drew directions for you..."

"Lynnia is a town of business, and it shouldn't be hard to find at all," Kanno explained, his voice wavering ever-so-slightly. I could tell he was nervous about the current kidnapping of one of his granddaughters. "You might want to wait a day before you leave. You seem so injured that I doubt you can make it."

"I need to get a move on it, right?" I stood now, with pain throbbing in my entire torso. "I've got to save Cinnamon."

"You need to rest first, Brendan," Tabatha spoke in a serious tone that cracked once. "If you push yourself too hard, you'll pass out."

"You sound like Lara, Tabatha," I tried to give her a reassuring smile. "I'll be fine. Don't worry about me."

Kanno seemed angry when he spoke this time. "You must rest before you leave, Brendan!"

"Kanno, do you not want me to rescue your granddaughter?" I turned to him-well- tried to turn to him. My leg gave out and fell back onto the sofa and whimpered in pain.

"See?" Kanno spoke triumphantly. "You can't walk that well, and I see how shallow your breathing is. Give it a one or two day rest, let Tabatha medicate you the day that you leave, and then leave."

"Okay," I sighed, realizing that what they were saying was true. I was weak, and there was no way that I could travel to another town with the condition that my body was in. "I'll leave tomorrow morning."

I glanced at Tabatha now, just to see her reaction, and I saw that she was looking down at the floor. "Tabatha, are you okay?"

"How long will he be going to Lynnia?" Tabatha asked in a soft voice.

"I do not know how long it will take him to defeat his next challenge," Kanno answered.

"I'll be back by Autumn," I said. That was nearly a season, and I knew that it wouldn't take me that long to beat my next challenge.

Tabatha sighed, and she finally looked at me. "So I will be gone by the time you return?"

"You're leaving before Autumn?" I asked, arching a brow.

"Miss Bianca is not certain. She was considering this just being a Summer House again, I don't know," Tabatha sighed.

I was silent for a moment, thinking. "Then I'll try to be back before Summer is up, okay?"

"I hope that you are," Tabatha said, looking down once again.

I turned my attention on Candy and Kanno, thinking of nothing else that I could say to Tabatha. "Is there anything else you would like to inform me of?"

"No," Candy shook her head. She sounded somewhat steady, but I could see that her usually bright eyes were filled with pain. "Good luck on your journey to Lynnia."

After saying goodbye, Candy and Kanno left, and an awkward air fell over Tabatha and me. I really had no idea what to say to her. I could tell that she was upset about me leaving, but I couldn't tell her that I would just stay behind. I had to live up to the reason I was sent to Trampoli.

"I will miss you when you leave tomorrow, Brendan" Tabatha spoke in a soft voice tinged with sorrow.

I thought for a moment of whether or not I wanted to say it back to her. "I'll miss you, too," I eventually mumbled.

"Will you be staying here tonight?" Tabatha asked, her voice soft.

"Of course," I nodded, smiling. "Kanno said that you had to medicate me, after all."

**Author's Note: **Sorry for the super-late update, but I had some personal things happen, and needed/wanted to be with my boyfriend through it.


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